Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Procurement Operations established this Master IDIQ for Personal Protective Equipment on February 1, 2010, with a final ordering deadline of July 23, 2020—more than five years ago. The vehicle is no longer active for new orders.

The vehicle procures six commodity categories: garments, gloves, goggles, hand sanitizer, respirators (N95, N99, N199), and surgical masks. Task-order activity clustered heavily in 2020, driven by pandemic response: 24 of the 39 total awards occurred that year, with the remainder spread across 2010–2018. Recent awards (2020 and later) are predominantly hand-sanitizer calls, many marked closeout, reflecting the surge and subsequent wind-down of COVID emergency procurement. The portfolio shows 39 task orders across 11 prime contractors with a combined potential value of $25.4 million, of which $12.6 million (50 percent) has been obligated.

The Travis Association For The Blind dominates the vehicle, holding 27 of 39 orders representing $23.6 million in combined potential value—93 percent of the portfolio by value. Scientific Sales, Inc. and The Mallory Co. follow distantly with two orders each. This extreme concentration leaves limited competitive opportunity for other primes.

Customer demand is driven primarily by DHS internal offices: the Chief Procurement Officer placed 7 orders worth $9.9 million, and the Office of Procurement Operations itself placed 11 orders worth $1.5 million, together representing roughly 46 percent of task-order volume. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and its regional offices account for a smaller share. All 39 task orders carry no set-aside designation.

Task-order values range from under one thousand dollars to $3.1 million obligated (before closeout adjustments), with ceiling values occasionally higher. Orders are typically firm fixed price. The 2020 surge reflects pandemic emergency procurement; pre-2020 activity was minimal. Because ordering closed in July 2020 and no new orders have been issued since December 2020, this vehicle is effectively exhausted and unsuitable for new business development pursuit.

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) contract vehicles directly support the Avian Influenza/Pandemic Influenza and Emerging Threats Countermeasures for DHS Workforce Protection Program, Personal Preparedness Equipment. The wide array of countermeasure commodities is derived from the technical specifications described in each individual contract or agreement and consists of six major categories: garments, gloves, goggles, hand sanitizer, respirators, and surgical masks.