Sources Sought Notice_70FB7026I00000002.pdf

FEMA RFI – 70FB7026I00000002

RESPONSE DIRECTORATE

FEMA

Response Directorate: National Medical Transport Support Services Request for

Information: 70FB7026I00000002

INTRODUCTION

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY.

This Sources Sought Notice is issued solely for information and market research planning purposes; it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation. Furthermore, those who respond to this notice should not anticipate feedback with regards to its submission; other than acknowledgment of receipt – ONLY IF a request for an acknowledgement is requested by the submitter. This notice does not commit the government to contract for any supply or service. Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any costs incurred in response to this notice. All costs associated with responding to this notice will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation.

The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the government. All submissions become the property of the federal government and will not be returned.

Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such.

1. Background:

a. Summary: The Response Directorate within FEMA coordinates and provides the core federal disaster response capability needed to save lives, reduce suffering, and protect property in communities throughout the nation that have been overwhelmed by the impact of a major disaster or emergency, regardless of cause. While most emergencies are handled locally, the Response Directorate must ensure that federal emergency response systems and capabilities are properly poised to lean forward to support states and communities overwhelmed by disasters and emergencies. Support declared or undeclared emergencies and disaster response operations where the location of performance will vary depending on operational needs. The source shall be able to provide contractor-managed multi-functional medical support resources and capabilities needed in support of federal assistance, evacuations, or other medical support activations for disaster responses and/or national events. The support resources shall be in the form of both staffed medical transport capabilities as well as licensed and certified medical personnel for augmentation beyond medical transportation throughout the Continental United States Current State: FEMA has a contract in place with sufficient personnel, equipment and supplies to support all zones for a full zone activation.

Capabilities:

FEMA has a need for medically related support services to include but not be limited to:

a. Medical Transportation

i. Advanced Life Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support (BLS) Ground Ambulances

ii. Para-transit support

iii. Medical airlift

b. Medical Personnel

i. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Advanced EMT (AEMT)

ii. Paramedic

c. Field Operations Team (FOT)

d. Communication Support Team (CST)

e. Planning and Exercise Support Services

The contractor must be able to provide all five services within each zone.

FEMA has divided 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia into four geographical zones.

This contract will be required to provide the services described to the following zones:

Zone 1 includes the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Zone 2 includes the States of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and the District of Columbia.

Zone 3 includes the States of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Zone 4 includes the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

The contractor may be requested to provide support in the United States areas outside of the awarded zone(s). Such requests shall be the best effort with prices and costs to be determined at the time of the request.

Readiness shall take place at the contractor’s facility. Task orders will designate the exact locations for other services to be provided.

A “full zone requirement” shall consist of the following resources:

• 300 medically staffed ground ambulances (a combination of ALS and BLS)

• 25 medically staffed aircraft (combination of fixed and rotary-wing)

• 3500 para-transit seats

• 150 medical support personnel (combination of EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics)

• 1 Operations Support Team (to be determined by scope of task)

• 1 Communications Support Team (to be determined by scope of task)

It shall be the sole responsibility of the contractor to properly staff all deployed resources for safe, effective, and continuous operations. When resources are ordered to respond to an event, it is expected that the contractor will provide enough personnel and assets as necessary to perform the required duties twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week during the period of performance stipulated in each task order.

Description of Requirement The contractor shall maintain a repository of all potential medical responders to substantiate insurance, certifications, licenses, and training as required by state and local authorities in their state of origin. The contractor shall also maintain records of participation by its employees in continuing education programs and reports showing frequency and type of medical incidents. The contractor is responsible for providing a validation report containing personnel names and any data required to verify credentials, given their respective disciplines, at the centralized check-in area within twenty-four (24) hours of activation.

At the request of the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and as a readiness and activation monitoring tool, the contractor shall immediately validate the credentials of all prospective responders.

Supplies It shall be the sole responsibility of the contractor to properly stock all deployed vehicles for safe, effective, and continuous twenty-four (24) hours per day operations. The contractor shall be responsible for obtaining fuel for all contractor’s deployed ground and air resources.

Vehicle Identification All transportation resources deployed pursuant to this contract shall display FEMA-approved placards with the following characteristics: Identify them as FEMA National Ambulance or Para-transit Contractors; contractor’s identifying logo; distinct unit number issued by contractor; and type or level of resource/asset. The contractor may elect to store caches of reserve ambulances. At times of activation, these vehicles will be marked with special placards identifying them as reserve ambulances. FEMA shall require that vehicles and personnel are properly identified as FEMA contract assets. An example of a vehicle placard and personnel ID shall be made available at a later date.

Reserve Ambulance Caches The contractor may stockpile caches of reserve ambulances. These ambulances are to be used for task order response only and will not be used in non-task order daily EMS operations. The contractor shall ensure that these resources are not part of a state or local

EMAC agreement. The vehicles will be required to be registered pursuant to state laws and regulations, however, they will not be required to be permitted/licensed as an ambulance by the EMS Office in the state and/or local jurisdiction in which they are stored since they will not be used for routine EMS response in that state or local jurisdiction.

However, all reserve ambulance units shall be properly equipped and Fully Mission Capable (FMC)

They will be required to display a placard on the vehicle that identifies them as a resource to be used only pursuant to this FEMA contract. If these vehicles do have license plates from the state(s) where the task order occurs, they will be allowed to respond pursuant to this contract.

Services It shall be the sole responsibility of the contractor to properly staff all deployed resources for safe, effective, and continuous twenty-four (24) hour per day operations. The contractor is responsible for logistics such as planning, stocking and maintenance of all resources. All labor and equipment required for the following services are defined below:

Medical Transportation

ALS or BLS Ground Ambulances The contractor shall provide up to 300 ground ambulances per zone as specified in the task order. The contractor shall have adequately certified and trained ground ambulance personnel to staff up to 70% with ALS and up to 30% with BLS per zone.

Para-transit services The contractor shall provide up to 3,500 para-transit passenger seats per zone as specified in the task order. Passenger seats and para-transit vehicles equipped with wheelchair lifts shall not exceed 25% of the 3,500 total seats. Non-ambulatory passengers who can sit upright without assistance may be transported in vehicles without wheelchair lifts if the passengers can safely be loaded on and off the vehicle using a portable patient carrying device. The one-way distance to transport para-transit passengers shall not exceed 250 miles.

Para-transit vehicles may be staffed by non-medically trained drivers whose primary responsibility is safe vehicle operation.

Medical support during transport shall be provided by the assigned caregivers, the facility of origin, or other medical resources.

Medical Airlift Services Transportation The contractor shall provide medical airlift services (fixed and rotary wing) to include aircraft with flight crew and Air Medical Crew (AMC) capable of providing Critical Care (CC), ALS or BLS, medical supplies and equipment as specified in the task order.

All contracted aircraft shall be available for operation until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounds aircraft due to weather or safety concerns.

Medical Personnel Services The contractor shall have the capability of providing a minimum of 150 EMT, AEMT, and paramedic medical positions per zone to perform all requirements specified in task orders awarded under this Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. All personnel assigned to the EMT, AEMT and paramedic positions shall possess the appropriate certifications and licenses.

Field Operations Team (FOT) The contractor shall provide a FOT team. The operations team shall be the contractor’s representative between the COR and the deployed resources while responding to an event. The FOT shall direct the deployed resources in response to direction from the COR.

The contractor shall determine which team positions to fill based on the size and scope of the issued task order and the span of control.

The contractor shall provide a construct of the recommended field operations support team in conjunction with each task authorization for consideration by FEMA prior to the issuance of a task order. The contractor shall be solely responsible for all logistics and support of the operations team.

Communication Support Team (CST) The contractor shall provide a dedicated communication team responsible for providing communication services in the event that the existing infrastructure fails. The contractor is expected to establish and support communication infrastructure to manage the medical component, ambulance tracking system, and one-on-one communication resources necessary for the successful performance of this contract. The CST shall utilize organic, sub-contracted, and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) to establish voice communications where possible. The contractor shall provide a construct of the recommended communications support team in conjunction with each task authorization for consideration by the Contracting Officer (CO) and COR prior to the issuance of a task order.

Moreover, the CST shall integrate communication constructs within the Theatre of Operations (TOO). The CST shall arrive at the VSA within twenty-four (24) hours to support and maintain communication continuity.

6.1.5. Ambulance Tracking/One-on-One Communication Resources:

1. The contractor shall secure, manage, distribute and maintain 1200 communication devices to sustain full coverage of deployed assets during a 4-zone activation.

2. The contractor shall also maintain no less than 25 communication devices per zone for use by ground operations personnel.

3. The communication devices shall be capable of maintaining uninterrupted connectively (voice and tracking) subject to available public infrastructure.

4. The communications devices shall be geospatially tracked from the time of activation until demobilization. It is preferred positioning of the devices be such that the asset can be tracked from time of check-in until demobilization.

5. The devices shall “ping” or transmit geospatial coordinates to a central consumption point at intervals of no less than once every 5 minutes.

6. In the event available public or emergency communications infrastructure is unable to support the transmission of the GPS “ping” signal, the device shall have the ability to “store and forward” the “ping” information once communications are reestablished.

7. The geospatial consumption point shall be remotely accessible by FEMA personal and that all information contained therein be available on a “real time” or near “real time” basis.

8. The consumption point shall provide the ability of FEMA personnel to visualize all actively deployed assets in a map setting.

9. The consumption point shall provide for data captured to be exploited into varied reports.

10. All data captured by the central consumption point shall be maintained for no less than 12 months from the time of consumption.

11. The Contractor shall maintain all communication devices in a “readiness posture” through the Period of Performance (PoP) of the contract. Readiness posture shall include those efforts associated with updating any software or application as well as positioning the devices for expeditious deployment.

Planning and Exercise Support Services The contractor shall provide subject matter expertise in support of planning and exercises of medical response and support activities at the state and federal level requested on a task-by-task basis. Planning and exercises scope, effort, and deliverables shall be determined on a task order basis.

Multi-Modal Transportation Medical Services The contractor shall supply paramedics, EMTs and AEMTs with the required certification within this contract to perform medical support services in support of multi-modal transportation. Such support may occur within trains, buses, or other transportation modes utilized for the purpose of transporting persons/evacuees.

Fixed Location Medical Support The contractor shall supply paramedics, EMTs and AEMTs with the required certification to be stationed within shelters, airheads, triage centers, or other fixed locations.

Equipment Ground Resources Ambulances The contractor shall provide ground ambulance vehicles based on the FEMA Typed Resource Definitions, Emergency Medical Services Resources:

• Type I – ALS Non-Hazmat

• Type II – BLS Non-Hazmat

• Type III – Bariatric Advanced Life Support

Para-Transit Vehicles.

Contractors should provide para-transit vehicles based on the FEMA Typed Resource Definitions, Emergency Medical Services Resources.

• Type I – Sedan/Minivan (1-7 seats)

• Type II – Minibus (8-26 seats)

• Type III – Transit Bus (>26 seats)

• Type IV – Wheelchair Van (1-9 seats with wheelchair lift)

• Type V – ADA Minibus (10-26 seats with wheelchair lift)

• Type VI – ADA Transit Bus (>26 seats with wheelchair lift)

Air Resources Fixed-wing Aircraft Contractor shall provide fixed-wing aircraft based on the FEMA Typed Resource Definitions, Emergency Medical Services Resources.

• Type I – CC and ALS

• Type II – CC and ALS

• Type III – Neonatal

Rotary-wing Aircraft Contractors shall provide rotary-wing aircraft based on the FEMA Typed Resource Definitions, Emergency Medical Services Resources.

• Type I – ALS

• Type II – ALS

• Type III – Neonatal Specific

2. Purpose of this Sources Sought Notice:

a. To determine industry capabilities for providing Emergency Medical Services to FEMA.

b. To determine industry capability to provide contractor-managed multi-functional medical support resources and capabilities needed in support of federal assistance, evacuations, or other medical support activations for disaster responses. The support resources shall be in the form of both staffed medical transport capabilities as well as licensed and certified medical personnel for augmentation beyond medical transportation throughout the Continental United States.

c. To determine industry capabilities for providing Emergency Medical Services to FEMA.

d. To determine industry capability to provide contractor-managed multi-functional medical support resources and capabilities needed in support of federal assistance, evacuations, or other medical support activations for national events. The support resources shall be in the form of both staffed medical transport capabilities as well as licensed and certified medical personnel for augmentation beyond medical transportation throughout the Continental United States.

3. Sources Sought Notice Questions:

a. Who is your competition, and what sets you apart from them?

b. Are you currently supporting DHS?

c. What contract vehicles are you on (DHS Strategic Sourcing Contract Vehicles, Best-in-Class contract vehicles, GSA

Schedule) and what is your company's business size (if small business, what is your socio-economic status?)

d. Where do you see the government impeding your ability to innovate?

• Has the government issued past requirements that have created inefficiencies, or missed key pieces of capability?

e. Have you worked with other agencies that have a similar requirement or mission problem to ours?

• If so, how did you support them, or where have you offered this capability in a different context?

f. Are you a newcomer to the federal government and would you like to share your relevant experience that is outside of the federal government space? What expertise and innovation do you bring that would benefit the federal government?

g. How do you ensure your products and services are delivered on time and of the highest quality?

h. • Do you have any insights on challenges associated with the supply chain that the government should be aware of, or that could impact your requirements?

4. Sources Sought Response Format:

To better assist in the review of submittals to this Request For Information (RFI), respondents are encouraged to prepare a capabilities statement that closely adheres to the following format:

The document format shall be either Microsoft Word (doc or .docx), or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) formats. Responses shall be prepared using 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, and 8.5” by 11” paper and shall not exceed ten (10) pages in length, including images, data displays, charts, graphs, and tables.

Respondents are encouraged to ensure that their submittals are complete and address all items outlined within this notice. Respondents may provide additional promotional literature in addition to their responses if the literature conforms to the response format.

Submissions in response to this notice shall not exceed 10 pages.

Response Deadline and Point of Contact Information:

Responses to this notice should be submitted in the form of Microsoft Word and/or PDF (searchable format) documents attached to emails with the RFI # 70FB7026I00000002 in the subject line of the email and received no later than Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 12:00 PM ET to:

• Contracting Officer Kimberly Coakley: Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov

Interested parties are requested to submit a statement of capability outlining past work that is related to this requirement. The statement of capability shall also include the information listed below:

1) Company Name/Division, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone, FAX numbers, and website address (if available).

2) Single point-of-contact name, title, telephone, and email address.

3) DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number (TIN), and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Please note that companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be considered potential sources (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/).

4) A statement addressing whether the company has an accounting system that has been determined adequate by DCAA or another cognizant audit agency for purposes of performing work on a federal government cost type contract.

5) A statement addressing whether the company has a property management system that has been determined acceptable for use on a federal government contract.

6) Applicable NAICS code under which the company customarily does business.

7) Business size for NAICS Code 621910 Ambulance Services and socio-economic status, if qualified as one or more of the following:

a) 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA)

b) Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA)

c) Woman-Owned Small Business

d) HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA)

e) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor Information pages)

8) If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, discuss potential team members.

9) A description of the firm’s ability to perform the work and any other information you believe to be important and germane to the purposes of this notice.

mailto:Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/)

The responses received will assist FEMA with identifying the number and nature of the entities that consider themselves feasible technical solution providers, as well as any teaming arrangements that may evolve because of this requirement.

Each respondent, by submitting a response, agrees that any cost incurred by it in responding to this request, or in support of activities associated with this notice, shall be the sole responsibility of respondent. FEMA shall incur no obligations or liabilities whatsoever, to anyone, for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondent in responding to this notice. Responses to this notice will not be returned.

5. Industry Discussions Some respondents may be asked to provide additional information regarding the matters addressed in this notice. Such requests will be provided approximately 4 weeks following the deadline to respond to this notice. Those respondents will be contacted directly if there is a need for further information.

6. Questions Interested parties are encouraged to attend FEMA’s NMTS Virtual Industry Day on April 1, 2026, see Industry Day Flyer attached to this posting for registration, details and question submission. Interested vendors may submit questions before and during Virtual Industry Day on April 1, 2026. All questions and responses will be posted after this notice closes. No phone calls will be accepted.

All questions must be emailed to Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov and FEMA-Industry@fema.dhs.gov.

mailto:Kimberly.Coakley@fema.dhs.gov mailto:FEMA-Industry@fema.dhs.gov