Notice of Intent to Sole Source to University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing and Department of Emergency Medicine for a project to obtain focus group input from first responders and first responder safety officers to develop and improve education materials and tools for use by first responders in response to the opioid epidemic.

This contract will recruit, facilitate, and conduct focus groups/interviews with first responders, analyze data from focus groups/interviews, and summarize the findings from the focus groups/interviews in a report including recommendations for educational materials/tools. This contract will also conduct a review of workplace policies and practices and assessment of safety equipment and environmental controls and observations related to opioid response. No personally identifiable information (PII) will be collected, reported, or retained as part of this project.

Summary of tasks

The contractor will develop a project plan and timeline for completing the work outlined in this contract. The contractor will assemble, coordinate, and conduct focus groups/interviews with first responders and safety officers (police, firefighters, EMS/paramedics, and emergency department personnel). The contractor will manage all scheduling, logistics, recruitment, and analyses/summarization of the results of policy/practices review and safety equipment/environmental control assessment. The contractor will carry out tasks outlined in the contract; the NIOSH Project Officer (PO) will provide consultation where this statement of work stipulates below. Focus groups/interviews with first responders will occur in four to six geographic regions in the United States agreed upon with the NIOSH PO. Policy/practices review and safety equipment/environmental control assessment will be conducted in first responder departments in geographic regions agreed upon with the NIOSH PO.

No personally identifiable information (PII) will be collected, reported, or retained as part of this project.

University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing and Department of Emergency Medicine has unique ability to leverage contacts and partnerships with expert working group meeting participants from first phase of this project to complete focus groups/interviews with local and regional first responders and to gain access to local and regional departments to conduct reviews of policies/practices and assessments and observations about safety equipment/environmental controls for developing and improving educational materials and tools for first responders dealing with opioid overdose situations. Other vendors could possibly obtain the needed expertise, but not without substantial investment and delay and potential cost to the government to prepare them for these tasks.

Period of Performance: September 1, 2020 - August 30, 2023.

This contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all quotations/responses received within five (5) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Any quotation/response should be emailed to Contract Specialist at pyx9@cdc.gov by COB 06-10-2020.