Ambulance_Questions_and_Answer_Final.pdf

Questions and Answers

Dated 19 January 2016

1. Question: In regards to the past performance documents in section A, are the items (d) through

(g) referring to the reference completing the form, terms of the existing contract or the pending contract?

Answer: In reference to the Past Performance Questionnaire, Section A of the Questionnaire shall be completed by the Offeror. Section B of the Questionnaire shall be completed by your previous or current customers that you provid or provided the same services to. After customer has completed Section B of the Questionnaire, they must be submitted directly to the Contract Specialist, Lt William Engelhart at william.engelhart.1@us.af.mil and Contracting Officer, Jason Bergeron at jason.bergeron.3@us.af.mil. Please reference SF 1449, page 11 Volume II-Past Performance.

2. Question: How many EMS calls were ran last year on Hanscom AFB? Is a breakdown by category available?

Answer: Hanscom AFB had a total of 120 EMS calls in 2014. Breakdown by category is not available.

3. Question: How many EMS calls were run this year 2015 as to date at Hanscom AFB?

Answer: Hanscom AFB had a total of 177 EMS calls in 2015.

4. Question: Does pricing include charges and services for transporting patient(s) or are charges for transporting patient(s) separate from the contract pricing?

Answer: This contract is a fixed priced contract for the availability to transport patients and the medical care of patients being transported. Normal insurance billing to the patients’ medical insurance company will be done by the Ambulance Company.

5. Question: What is the population of Hanscom AFB daily, including visitors and employees who commute from off base?

Answer: This data is not recorded.

6. Question: Please provide pursuant to 5 U.S.C Section 552, FOIA, a copy of the last awarded.

Answer: All documents able to be produced can be located on the FBO website, https://www.fbo.gov/. Proper FOIA requests must be sent using the procedures found at www.foia.af.mil mailto:william.engelhart.1@us.af.mil mailto:jason.bergeron.3@us.af.mil http://www.foia.af.mil/

FA2835-16R-00023

Questions

Question 1

The Solicitation requires us to provide copies of various licenses, operating permits, etc. of our employees IAW Volume I – Technical Proposal, and Amendment 002 – Subfactor 1:

1. VOLUME I - TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

This volume shall consist of two (2) clearly labeled sections.

1. Operating Permits (Limited to 30 pages). The Offeror shall provide copies of the operating permits specified below that meet the following certification and licensing requirements:

• In accordance with Performance Work Statement (PWS) 4.2.1, the Offeror shall provide a copy of a valid class Massachusetts driver’s license for the personnel it proposes to operate an emergency ambulance under this contract.

• In accordance with Performance Work Statement (PWS) 4.2.2, the Offeror shall provide a copy of a current, unrestricted license to perform Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) (Basic or Paramedic) services in the State of Massachusetts for the personnel it proposes to perform EMT services under this contract.

• In accordance with Performance Work Statement (PWS) 4.2.3, the Offeror shall provide a copy of a Basic Life Support (BLS) certification and an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification for the personnel it proposes to perform EMT services under this contract.

• In accordance with Performance Work Statement (PWS) 4.2.3, the Offeror shall provide a copy of a Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS) certification for the personnel it proposes to perform EMT services under this contract.”

However, the Solicitation also requires compliance with FAR 52.222-17 – Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers:

52.222-17 (b) “The Contractor and its subcontractors shall, except as otherwise provided herein, in good faith offer those service employees employed under the predecessor contract whose employment will be terminated as a result of award of this contract or the expiration of the contract under which the service employees were hired, a right of first refusal of employment under this contract in positions for which the service employees are qualified.” And.

52.222-17 (2) – “Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this clause, there shall be no employment opening under this contract, and the Contractor and any subcontractors shall not offer employment under this contract, to any person prior to having complied fully with this obligation.” And, 52.222-17 (d) (2) – “Immediately upon receipt of the certified service employee list but not before contract award, the contracting officer shall provide the certified service employee list to the successor contractor, and, if requested, to employees of the predecessor contractor or subcontractors or their authorized representatives.” And, 52.222-17 (e) (2) – “Immediately upon receipt of the certified service employee list but not before contract award, the contracting officer shall provide the certified service employee list to the successor contractor, and, if requested, to employees of the predecessor contractor or subcontractors or their authorized representatives.”

It seems impossible for an offeror to comply with the requirement listed Volume 1 – Technical proposal, and at the same time meet the requirements of the SCA referenced in the Solicitation;

thus, competition for this Solicitation is therefore limited to offerors currently operating in the State of Mass. Will you please provide clarification?

Answer: The Government’s intention in asking for the driver’s license and certifications is to verify that the Offeror has the ability to perform the services needed here in Massachusetts. Copies of licenses from your current state will qualify your proposal, but the Massachusetts licenses will be needed before work on the contract begins.

FAR Clause 52.222-17 is included in case the Successful Offeror wants to try and employ the current employees on the current contract. This decision is up to the Successful Offeror.

Question 2

Is it in fact the intent of the Government for the base year to consist of only 6 months?

“Ambulance Service FFP

ITEM NO [CLIN] 0001 - The Contractor shall provide full emergency patient transport services at Hanscom AFB, all associated housing areas, and the Hanscom AFB Family Campground Area, South Street, Bedford MA in accordance with the Performance Work Statement.

Contractor shall furnish all labor, management, supervision, vehicles, supplies, equipment, transportation, and reports. Period of Performance : 1 April 2016 to 30 September 2016”

Answer: Yes, the Government intends the base year to be for six months.

Question 3

Was it the Government’s intention to exclude FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999)), and 52.217-9 (Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000))?

Answer: Both of these Clauses are included in the Solicitation.

Question 4

Is a specific font style or font size required for responses?

Answer: While a specific font style and size are not required, the Government would prefer Times New Roman at the font size of 10 or 12.

1. The solicitation requires as referenced in ‘Volume I – Technical Proposal’ that you must submit the driver’s licenses and certifications of potential employees at the point of proposal versus upon award. Can this be modified to production of these documents within 30 days of award?

Ø This limits the potential bidders, at the government’s detriment, to a local provider who has employees who have previously been vetted for security clearances. A 30 day post award would allow other bidders to recruit, process and vet appropriate employees for security clearances for this contract.

Answer: The Government’s intention in asking for the driver’s license and certifications is to verify that the Offeror has the ability to perform the services needed here in Massachusetts. Copies of licenses from your current state will qualify your proposal, but the Massachusetts licenses will be needed before work on the contract begins.

2. Was it a misprint in ‘Section 1.1. Emergency Medical Response and Patient Transport’ section of the PWS wherein it states that response time for BLS calls will be within 7 minutes and response time for ALS calls will be within 12 minutes?

Ø This seems contradictory to the a normal standard of care generally seen wherein your higher level ALS calls require a quicker response time than your BLS calls. Should the requirements for these response times be reversed?

Answer: This is not a misprint. The 911 call system here on base sends a BLS unit immediately, upon receipt of the call. If it is found in-route or upon arrival that ALS is needed, then that vehicle or unit is sent. This is why the two times are different.

3. In ‘Section 3. Government – Furnished Property and Services’ it states that there will be no staging area available on Hanscom Air Force Base. Does the government have any objection to the contractor attempting to locate available lease space on base to utilize as a staging area?

Answer: The Government does not have an issue with this.

4. It is mentioned at 1.2 of ‘Section 1.1 Emergency Medical Response and Patient Transport’ that the contractor is expected to participate in exercises and events ‘not more than 50x per year’. Is the contractor deadlined at the event and thus unavailable for an emergency during that event OR does an emergency take precedence over the event allowing the contractor to handle the emergency situation?

Answer: This situation should be handled the same way that multiple emergencies would be handled.

The Government expects all emergency calls to be responded to.

5. Can you provide the transport data for the last 12 months?

Answer: Hanscom AFB had a total of 120 EMS calls in 2014.

6. Is the contractor expected to bill the insurance (if available) of patients transported?

Answer: Yes. This contract is for availability to transport.

7. Is the contractor expected to provide a Certificate of Need or will they be exempt as this is a federal contract?

Answer: No Certificate of Need should be provided. This acquisition is for Ambulance Services and does not include any facilities.

8. Is the contractor expected to be used for non emergency ambulance transports?

Answer: Per the PWS, the Contractor shall provide full emergency patient transport services at Hanscom AFB, all associated housing areas, and the Hanscom AFB Family Campground Area, South Street, Bedford MA.

1. Atch 3- Past Performance How many references are you looking for?

Answer: 3 references.

2. Atch 4- CDRL A001, Atch 5CDRL A002 and Atch 6- cdrl a003, Do these forms need to be filled out or are they for reference?

Answer: Reference only at this time.

3. Does anything in the Solicitaion FA2835-16-R-0002 attachement need to be filled out or is this a reference document?

Answer: Attachments 3 (Past performance Questionnaires) and Attachment 7 (Bid Schedule) will need to be filled out.

1. In reference to the Past Performance document do following entries:

a. Contract Number

b. Prime or Sub Contractor

c. Dollar amount

d. Date Completed

e. Contract type

Refer to Solicitation FA2835-16-R-0002, Action’s existing contract specifications or the contract specifications of the reference that will be completing the document?

Answer: Past Performance Questionnaires need to include the Contract specifications for the contracts you are getting the references for, not the possible future contract.

2. In reference to the employee licenses and certifications, Volume I of the Technical Proposal. Are the actual photocopies of each field provider required or can an Excel spreadsheet with all requested data be submitted with the understanding that any and all of the documents will be presented to the Air Force upon request?

Answer: All relevant medical certifications must be submitted. Driver’s license and medical license of the employees or prospective employees for this contract will suffice. If any additional employees are used for the contract we would need their information.

3. To confirm, in reference to item 4 of the Offeror Submission Letter has there been any amendments to the proposal issued that would need acknowledgement?

Answer: No

4. Does the prevailing wage calculation include the cost of benefit compensation?

Answer: Yes.

Is it possible the government would entertain temporary trailer housing located in one of the lesser used parking areas with access to water and electricity hookups? Or, as an alternative using an unoccupied residential house to support the ambulance mission?

Answer: The Contracting team here at Hanscom AFB contacted the Air Base Group and the Fire Department for possible staging areas or parking spots for the Ambulance Service contract. We were told that there is no available area for the Ambulance contract needs. Any further questions can be directed to the 66 Air Base Group here on Hanscom AFB.