FEMA awards ambulance support contract worth nearly half a billion dollars

Ambulance team with AMR

FEMA has awarded a follow-on contract that could be worth almost half a billion dollars to American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. (AMR) to provide ground and air ambulances, medical personnel and operational support in 11 Western states and 16 Central states.

The contract, which was announced by FEMA’s mitigation branch on Feb. 2, requires AMR to provide “stocked and staffed ground ambulances, para-transit vehicles, and air ambulances to transport and monitor individuals within the Western and Central states in support of Federal events,” according to a notice on the Federal Business Opportunities Website.

More specifically, FEMA’s original solicitation envisioned the winning contractor supplying emergency medical technicians and paramedics; field operations teams; communications support; and planning and exercise support.

“AMR’s national headquarters is located in Greenwood Village, Colo.,” says the company’s Website. “AMR provides services to more than 2,100 communities across the nation.”

This is not the first time AMR has been awarded a major disaster-response contract by FEMA.

“In 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded AMR with an exclusive contract to provide ground and air ambulance service along with para-transit service to supplement federal and military responses to disasters, acts of terrorism and other public health emergencies,” the company explains. “This [2007] national contract is the first of its kind and as of October 1, 2009 covers the 48 contiguous United States which are divided into 4 FEMA zones.”

The original solicitation for the most-recent award said the “not-to-exceed ceiling amount” for the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IQIQ) award, including the one-year base period and the four option years, would be $248,750,000 per zone. FEMA awarded AMR the ambulance responsibilities in two zones – Western and Central – and announced AMR’s total “not-to-exceed” dollar amount as $497,500,000.

Further information is available from David Zhang, a contract specialist with FEMA, at 202-212-4880 or David.Zhang@fema.gov.