Statement_of_Work.pdf

Statement of Work (SOW)

Emergency Medical Evacuation Services Statement of Work

GENERAL

1. The contractor shall provide medical evaluation, support, and evacuation/repatriation services to NASA civil service employees hereinafter “NASA employees” traveling internationally on official Government business who have been seriously injured/fallen ill while on Agency official international business travel (for minor injury/illness phone referral services will be provided). Other travel assistance services shall also be provided via telephone or electronic communication, such as dental and optometric referrals local to the employee, support in replacing lost passports, prescription replacement and/or locating pharmacies.

2. NASA employee official business travel categories include, but are not limited to employees who are on temporary duty travel, permanent change of station transition travel, and/or extended duty assignments in any part of the world other than the continental United States.

3. There shall be no transport of NASA employees for short-term, interim, or long-term medical assistance/support or stabilization to any areas listed on the Department of State alert site https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings.html

4. Employees who are in a location for treatment wherein the location becomes listed on the Department of State alert site shall, whenever possible, be relocated to a safe facility if transport back to the United States is not feasible.

I. CONTRACTOR SERVICES INFORMATION ACCESS

1. The Contractor shall provide, within 21 days of effective date of the contract, a fully operational password-protected website/webpage designed specifically for NASA employees. The website/webpage shall be available for access 24/7

2. Procedures/instructions on how to use the website/webpage shall be provided to NASA within 21 days of the effective date of the contract. This may be accomplished electronically with instructions.

3. The password-protected website/webpage shall include travel resources, tools, and guidance, such as destination/travel health reports for international destinations, online videos/podcasts, information sheets, recent alerts, international embassy/consulate contact information, pre-travel checklists, vaccination requirements/recommendations, and links to other pertinent websites (e.g., Department of State, Centers for Disease Control), etc.

4. 30 days after the effective date of the contract 2,000 laminated cards (standard business-card-size) shall be delivered to NASA. The cards shall include the Contractor’s telephone number, e-mail, and website URL to be used while abroad and include any instructions necessary on how to dial the phone number(s) provided (e.g., country code needed, call collect, etc.) NASA can provide an example template if desired. In addition to the initial provisioning of 2,000 cards, NASA may request up to 500 additional cards per year.

II. CONTRACTOR CAPABILITIES

1. Transportation

a) Contractor transportation shall include providing the appropriate medical equipment to ensure NASA international travelers are properly medically stabilized prior to and during their transportation.

b) Land and/or air medical evacuation of NASA employees to the closest medical facility in duty station country or other country with the provision the medical facility is Western equivalent in medical treatment, capabilities, and expertise. At NASA’s option, NASA may request the Contractor transport patients from their foreign location directly to the United States.

c) The Contractor shall provide assistance to NASA employees with proven capability of patient extraction from remote locations

d) During the term of the contract, the Contractor’s use of any contractor, leased or chartered aircraft shall comply with the requirements specified in section 3, below.

2. Medical Staffing

a) The Contractor shall utilize fully trained, licensed, and certified medical personnel sufficient to maintain patients in a stable mode from the time of acceptance of the employee until he/she is transferred to a receiving medical treatment facility. The minimum medical evacuation personnel experience, certification, licensure requirements are:

1. At least five years’ experience in critical care

2. Trained in flight physiology, emergency and critical care medicine

3. Current certifications in BLS, ACLS

4. Air Medical Crew-Advanced National Standard class or its equivalent

b) The number of staff assigned to a case for transport shall take into account the potential of the employee’s condition worsening, warranting additional emergency measures and additional professional staff required to assist.

3. Aircraft and Pilots

1. Contractor aircraft shall be certificated, operated, and maintained in accordance with 14 CFR Parts:

21—Certification Procedures for Products and Parts, 25—Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Airplanes, 29—Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Rotorcraft, 39—Airworthiness Directives, 43—Maintenance, Preventative Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration, 61—Certification: Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Ground Instructors, 65—Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers, 91—General Operating and Flight Rules, 135—Operating Requirements: Commuter and On-Demand Operations.

2. Contractor must have a documented Safety Management System (SMS) in accordance with in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Federal, and industry standards. Specifically, SMS requires the following:

a. A structured means of safety risk management decision making.

b. A means of demonstrating safety management capability before system failures occur.

c. Increased confidence in risk controls through structured safety assurance processes.

d. An effective interface for knowledge sharing.

e. A safety promotion framework to support a sound safety culture.

III. CONTRACTOR NOTIFICATION AND PERMISSION TO PROCEED – PROTOCOL

The contractor shall contact the designated authorized NASA contacts as follows:

1. Medical Evacuations: Immediately by telephone

2. Hospitalizations of NASA Employees

a. Immediately by telephone for critical cases

b. By telephone during waking hours (0800-2000 Eastern) or by confidential/encrypted electronic mail, 7 days per week, for non-critical or routine events

3. Outpatient Care: Confidential/encrypted notification to NASA via electronic mail unless the employee’s local physician expresses concern and requests immediate telephone contact with NASA’s designated physician.

4. NASA points of contact (available 24/7) for Contractor’s obtaining authorization to proceed with services for NASA employees (below) shall ensure the Contractor is provided the most current telephone and e-mail information for Contractor to use.

Primary Designated civil service physicians from Kennedy Space Center

Secondary NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer or Deputy Chief Health and Medical Officer Tertiary Contracting Officer’s Representative located in the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer

5. The decision to perform an air ambulance medical evacuation shall be made jointly by the contractor and NASA, based on the clinical judgment of NASA physicians who will apply U.S.

standards of care. Such services may include air ambulance evacuation and repatriation services to a hospital in the United States (U.S.) or NASA's hospital of choice. To the extent reasonable, as circumstances permit, the contractor’s discussion of service choices and alternatives with the NASA points of contact shall include estimates of cost.

IV. EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE AND MEDICAL EVACUATION

1. The Contractor shall assist NASA employees whenever their medical condition and situation requires immediate emergency medical treatment, without which there would be significant risk of death or serious impairment.

2. The Contractor shall provide medical services for NASA employees who are experiencing a medical condition that requires (1) accompanying medical escort during transport and/or (2) English (or other language native to the traveler) speaking medical translation during either in-patient hospitalization or out-patient definitive medical care.

3. The Contractor shall provide an emergency evacuation under medical supervision by whatever means necessary to the nearest Western equivalent facility capable of providing adequate care.

The selection of facility may involve coordination with NASA’s designated physician and may involve direct transport of the employee back to the United States, at NASA’s discretion, and depending on the NASA employee’s medical status and fitness to travel.

4. The Contractor shall communicate with the appropriate designated NASA representatives regarding plans to transport, hospitalize, and the means and methods of transporting patients, including circumstance such as the patient’s medical condition, degree of urgency, fitness to travel, distance and availability of airports, and current weather conditions.

5. The Contractor shall ensure medical monitoring staff is available 24/7/365 to talk/confer with the NASA designated physician. Case information relayed to NASA’s designated physician includes the NASA employee’s condition, treating physician recommendations, and other patient health-related information that will assist NASA to ensure the health and safety of the employee.

6. The Contractor shall have a method/procedure in place, within 7 calendar days of contract award that enables 24/7 confidential and secured transmission of NASA employees’ medical condition to the NASA designated physician.

7. The Contractor shall guarantee payment to all providers as NASA’s Agent, for all costs associated with in-patient or out-patient medical care provided in the employee’s international location, until invoices can be prepared by Contractor and submitted to NASA for payment.

8. The Contractor shall assist employees in obtaining documentation for medical insurance claims for care arranged by or coordinated with the Contractor, especially ensuring documentation is in English or translated into English.

9. When requested, the Contractor shall assist with arrangements for an air transportation ticket for the NASA employee’s relative (one relative) to join the employee who has been, or will be, hospitalized/treated. Arrangements shall also be made by the Contractor for the NASA employee’s relative to travel back to the United States with the NASA employee.

10. The Contractor shall ensure that the employee’s medical records are transferred to employee’s personal physician and/or provided to the employee to take with him/her.

V. REPATRIATION OF MORTAL REMAINS

1. In the event of an employee’s death, the Contractor shall render assistance and provide for the return of mortal remains via coordination with NASA and employee’s next of kin.

2. Assistance shall include locating a funeral home or equivalent entity to prepare the body for transport, transporting the body from the site of death to the sending funeral home or equivalent entity and then to the airport; ensuring the provision of a minimally necessary casket or air tray for transport; coordinating with consular services; procuring death certificates; and transporting the remains from the airport to the receiving funeral home in the United States.

3. Other services that may be necessary include assisting in making travel arrangements for next of kin, arranging for identification of the body, and notifying next of kin.

4. If requested by an authorized family member or legal representative, Contractor shall arrange for local burial at or near the individual’s place of death at no cost to the Government.

VI. NON-EMERGENCY SERVICES AND SUPPORT –AS A RESULT OF ILLNESS OR

ACCIDENT.

1. Non-emergency requests for assistance do not require NASA permission to proceed.

2. The Contractor shall assist NASA employees, at no cost to the Government, with non-emergency support. Exceptions to “no cost” are those activities that require purchasing, sending, or other extensive efforts in order to replace a critical item for employee (e.g., replacing medical devices, purchasing replacement prescription medicine).

3. Assistance may be provided telephonically, electronically, or by information located on the NASA password-protected website.

4. Examples of assistance include:

a) Assisting NASA with medevac information required on applications to enter foreign countries. Some countries require NASA to provide confirmation/evidence that travelers have medical evacuation insurance/coverage/benefits.

b) Relative to an injury or illness where practical and legal, arranging for non-emergency delivery of medicines, drugs, and medical supplies that are required for employee’s care or treatment but which are available at or near the employee’s location.

c) Providing employees information on ways of obtaining replacement of corrective lenses and medical devices if they are lost, stolen, or broken during travel. Expenses connected with these activities shall be billed to the employee.

d) Provision of non-emergency medical advice and referral recommendations e.g., locations of nearby English-speaking physicians or dentists, how to obtain replacement prescription medication, locations of medical clinics or pharmacies near their duty/assignment area, etc.

e) Provision of non-emergency contact information (e.g., names, addresses, phone numbers) for lawyers or legal professionals within the area near their foreign duty/assignment area.

f) Providing assistance and information to employees regarding the replacement of passports, visas, airline documents, and other travel-related documents.

5. The Contractor shall, without charge, provide foreign language assistance to NASA employees by telephone or up to one-page translations submitted via fax.

VII. INVOICES, PAYMENT, AND QUARTERLY REPORTS

1. The Contractor shall submit invoices electronically to NASA as costs are incurred, ensuring that supporting documentation transmitted is protected as required by all privacy and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) requirements/regulations.

2. The Contractor shall ensure timely submission to NASA of the final invoice associated with Contractor-provided medical evacuation, transportation, and/or repatriation services. All medical assistance, evacuation or repatriation related invoices shall be provided within 21 calendar days of the last day of service provided to the employee. Invoices and other associated documentation shall not include any patient’s medical information that is protected by the Privacy Act or HIPAA.

3. A quarterly report summarizing services (including no-cost support) provided to NASA, electronically, for that time period, even if the entry is “no services provided during this time period”. If services were provided, the report shall include, at a minimum, the date each service was provided, the initials of the employee who requested or incurred the service/support, and the general type of service provided (e.g., dental referral assistance, passport assistance, emergency medical service, etc.). Any costs associated with service provided shall also be included in the report.

4. If requested copies of subcontractor invoices or other “pass-through” costs shall be provided to support invoices.