Attachment_1_-_Definitions.pdf

Tuolumne County Ambulance Service RFP Page 1 of 4

Attachment 1: Definitions Advanced Life Support (ALS) – Special services designed to provide definitive pre-hospital emergency medical care as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 1797.52, including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiac monitoring, cardiac defibrillation, advanced airway management, intravenous therapy, administration of specified drugs and other medicinal preparations, and other specified techniques and procedures administered by authorized personnel under the direct supervision of a base hospital.

ALS Unit – An ambulance specially equipped to provide advanced life support services, staffed by at least one EMT and one EMT-P.

Ambulance – Any vehicle specially constructed, modified or equipped and used for transporting sick, injured, infirmed, or otherwise incapacitated person and capable of supporting BLS or a higher level of care.

Ambulance Service – The furnishing, operating, conducting, maintaining, advertising, or otherwise engaging in or professing to be engaged in the transportation of patients by ambulance. Taken in context, it also means the person so engaged or professing to be so engaged.

Ambulance Unit – An ambulance staffed with qualified personnel and equipped with appropriate medical equipment and supplies.

Basic Life Support (BLS) – As defined in Health and Safety Code Section 1797.60.

BLS Unit – An ambulance specially equipped to provide basic life support services, staffed by at least two EMTs.

Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) – An emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation to manually preserve intact brain function.

Closing Date/Time – The day and time by which the RFP must be received on the County portal.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) – Approach to quality management that builds upon traditional quality assurance methods by emphasizing the organization and systems.

Contract - Comprises the Request for Proposal (RFP), any amendment thereto, the bid proposal, and the purchase order if appropriate. The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between TCAS and the awarded Bidder.

Contract Administrator – The EMS Administrator is the Contract Administrator and will be the single authority to act for the County under the Contract.

Contractor – The Proposer awarded the Contract derived from this RFP. The Proposer who is awarded the Contract and designated as the legal entity. The Prime Contractor will hereafter also be known as the Contractor. Any subcontracting, joint ventures, or other legal arrangements made by the Contractor during this project are the sole responsibility of the Contractor.

Tuolumne County Ambulance Service RFP Page 2 of 4

County – The County of Tuolumne, a political subdivision of the State of California. County incorporates all services, agencies, and departments within the County of Tuolumne, including the General Services Department/Purchasing Services, Health and Human Services Agency, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency.

County EMS Agency – The governing body of the EMS system in Tuolumne County.

County Online Procurement System – The online portal with the address:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/tuolumnecountyca

Critical Care Transport (CCT) - Interfacility transportation of a critically injured or ill person by ground ambulance vehicle, including the provision of medically necessary supplies and services, at a level of service beyond the scope of the ALS services as reasonably determined by the treating physician. CCT is necessary when a patient’s condition requires ongoing care that must be furnished by one or more health professionals in an appropriate specialty area, for example, emergency or critical care nursing, emergency medicine, respiratory care, cardiovascular care, or a paramedic with additional training as required by the State and is beyond the ALS services. In this County, the higher level of clinician (e.g., registered nurse) will be provided by the hospital or air ambulance provider.

Deployment Plan – The procedures by which ambulances are distributed throughout the service area. Deployment includes the locations at which the ambulances are placed (or posted) and the number of ambulances placed in service for the time period.

Emergency Call – A real or self-perceived event where the EMS system is accessed by the 9- 1-1 emergency access number, or an interfacility transfer where the patient’s health or well-being could be compromised if the patient is held at the originating facility.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) – This refers to the full spectrum of pre-hospital care and transportation (including interfacility transports), encompassing bystander action (e.g., CPR), priority dispatch, and pre-arrival instructions, first response and rescue service, ambulance services, and on-line medical control.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – An individual trained in all facets of basic life support according to standards prescribed by the California Code of Regulations and who has a valid certificate issued pursuant to that code.

EMS System – The EMS system consists of those organizations, resources, and individuals from whom some action is required to ensure timely and medically appropriate response to medical emergencies.

Enroute Time (Out of Chute) – The elapsed time from unit alert to unit enroute.

First Responder – An agency with equipment and staff (e.g., fire department, police, or non- transporting ambulance unit) with personnel capable of providing appropriate first responder pre-hospital care.

Interfacility Transports (IFT) – Ambulance transports between healthcare facilities, typically non-emergency.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/tuolumnecountyca

Tuolumne County Ambulance Service RFP Page 3 of 4

Joint Ventures – Two or more corporations or entities that form a temporary union for the purpose of the RFP.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Metrics that demonstrate the operational, clinical, and other measurable standards by the Contractor.

LEMSA – Local EMS Agency.

Material Breach – When the Contractor fails to meet the RFP or contract requirements for 1) inadequately staffing units, 2) furnishing false or misleading information, 3) failure to meet insurance requirements, 4) not producing required reports, 5) failure provide appropriate care to patients, or 6) failure to meet other contract requirements.

Medical Director – shall mean the County EMS Agency Medical Director, contracted to oversee the medical control and quality assurance programs of the EMS System.

Medical Protocol – Written standards for patient medical assessment and management.

Multi-Casualty Incident (MCI) – An event has taken place that results in more victims than are normally handled by the system. The event takes place within a discrete location and does not involve the entire community. It is expected that the number of victims would stress the system, including delays in treatment of patients with relatively minor injuries or illnesses.

Mutual Aid – shall refer to: 1) responses into the County from a ground transport provider outside the County for the purpose of assisting the Contractor with emergency and/or non-emergency requests for service; 2) responses by the Contractor to service areas outside the County for the purpose of assisting the ground transport provider in an adjacent service area.

Non-Emergency Call – Any request for service designated as non-life threatening by pre-established dispatch protocols, including the MPDS call type and LEMSA Medical Director guidance, requiring the immediate dispatch of an ambulance without the use of lights and sirens.

Notice of Intent to Award – Publicly posted notice to all participating Bidders advising them of the intended decision to award a Contract to the apparent successful Bidder as recommended by the Evaluation Committee.

Paramedic – An individual trained and licensed to perform advanced life-support (ALS) procedures under the direction of a physician according to standards prescribed by the California Code of Regulations. Formerly known as an EMT-P.

Paramedic Unit – An ambulance staffed and equipped to provide advanced life support at the scene of a medical emergency and during transport in an ambulance. The minimum standard for a paramedic unit in Solano County shall be one (1) EMT-P and one (1) EMT-1.

Patient Care Report (PCR) – A document that records patient information, assessment, care, treatment, and disposition by prehospital personnel.

Portable Document Format (PDF) – Commonly referred to as Adobe Acrobat format.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – A mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, war, violent crime, or personal loss.

Proposal Deadline – The closing date associated with this proposal.

Proposer – A person, partnership, firm, corporation, organization, or joint venture submitting a bid proposal for the purpose of obtaining a Contract. Also: proposer, vendor, or respondent.

Request for Proposal (RFP) – This solicitation for Ambulance Services Provider within Tuolumne County.

Respondent – Is the person representing a proposer who answers a question, declaration, letter, email message, survey, or anything else that requires a response.

Review Committee – A committee established to review, evaluate, and score bid proposals to recommend the Contract award.

Safety Car - a vehicle approved for psychiatric transports that has been modified to provide a separate passenger area that prevents contact to the driver from the rear passenger compartment. The car will be equipped with controlled power window and door locks, child safety locks and working seatbelts for all seats in which a person will be sitting.

Scope of Services – The document which describes tasks, dependencies, the sequence and timing of events, deliverables, and responsible parties associated with the various phases of the proposal.

Self-Insurance Retention (SIR) – Self-insured policy.

Standby Service – A private or public event requiring an on-site ambulance or the organizers requesting an ambulance. Examples include sporting events, fairs, and concerts.

Unit Hour – One hour of service by fully equipped and staffed ambulance assigned to a call or available for dispatch.

Unit Hour Utilization (UHU) Ratio – A measurement of how hard and how effectively the system is working. It is calculated by dividing the number of responses initiated during a given period, by the number of unit hours (hours of service) produced during the same period. This calculation may be adjusted for the impact of longer time on task. Special event coverage and certain other classes of activity are excluded from these calculations.

Utilization – A measure of work that compares the available resources (unit hours) with actual time that those unit hours are being consumed by productive activity. The measure is calculated to determine the percentage of unit-hours consumed in productivity with the total available unit-hours.

Vendor - A person, partnership, firm, corporation, or joint venture submitting a bid or response for the purpose of obtaining a Contract.