Dynamic Testing of Equipment Mounts and Interior Cabinets used in the Ambulance Patient Compartment

PRE SOLICITATION NOTICE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV, has a requirement for Dynamic Testing of Equipment Mounts and Interior Cabinets used in the Ambulance Patient Compartment. The CDC intends to award a single Firm-Fixed-Price Purchase Order in accordance with FAR Part 13. The period of performance is 1 March 2012 through 1 January 2013. Background and Need The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the National Truck Equipment Association's Ambulance Manufacturers Division (NTEA-AMD), is working to improve worker and patient safety in the patient compartment of U.S. based ambulances. This collaborative work builds on completed research performed by NIOSH under past NIOSH funded projects. The first outcome from this collaborative effort was the development of AMD Standard 025, "Measuring Guidelines: Occupant Head Clearance Zones". Together, NIOSH and the NTEA are continuing to investigate opportunities to improve the structural integrity of the patient compartment, seating systems, the patient litter, and equipment location and mounting utilizing existing NIOSH data. To that end, NIOSH, the NTEA-AMD, and its members have developed SAE J2917 "Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice for Occupant Restraint and Equipment Mounting Integrity - Frontal Impact System-Level Ambulance Patient Compartment" to characterize the response of an ambulance when subjected to a full frontal crash into a barrier at 30 mph. (Reference 1) Likewise, the partners have worked diligently to develop a companion "SAE Recommended Practice" to characterize an ambulance's response in a side impact event. Through a separate solicitation, the partners conducted four (4) side impact tests during the summer of 2010. The resulting dataset was used to support the development of the SAE J2956 "Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice for Occupant Restraint and Equipment Mounting Integrity - Side Impact System-Level Ambulance Patient Compartment" published in June 2011. (Reference 2) With these two SAE recommended practices in hand as input dynamic loading, NIOSH and its partners, through this solicitation, now seek to complete the following: (1) validate the proposed AMD test procedures for testing equipment mounting as described in Equipment Mount Test Research - PROPOSED - DRAFT- January 22, 2011 (Reference 3); (2) validate the proposed AMD test procedures for testing interior cabinet doors in Reference 3; and, (3) conduct static and dynamic testing of simulated mounting devices such that a dynamic-to-static load factor may be generated through statistical analysis. The broad goal of this effort is to validate the test procedures outlined in Reference 3 which is intended to verify that equipment mounting and interior cabinet doors are crashworthy. The successful Offeror's test program would essentially follow the test requirements, conditions, and procedures described in Reference 3. Project Objectives This contract will validate both the test procedures and potentially the crashworthiness of individual EMS equipment mounts, cabinet closures, and/or latching mechanisms. Further, this contracting effort will yield data that supports the development of a generic dynamic load factor for use in design and testing of equipment mounts suitable for use in the patient compartment of an ambulance. At the completion of this testing program the Contractor will have created a series of datasets which will: A. Validate the testing metodolgies described in Reference 3 pertinent to equipment mount integrity. B. Validate the testing methodologies described in Reference 3 pertinent to cabinet door and door latching integrity. C. Provide the underlying data needed to thoughtfully establish a generic dynamic-to-static design load factor. References; 1. SAE J2917 "Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice for Occupant Restraint and Equipment Mounting Integrity - Frontal Impact System-Level Ambulance Patient Compartment, May 2010 2. SAE J2956 "Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice for Occupant Restraint and Equipment Mounting Integrity - Side Impact System-Level Ambulance Patient Compartment, June 2011 3. Equipment Mount Test Research - PROPOSED - DRAFT- January 22, 2011 4. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 213 "Child Restraint Systems" 5. SAE J211-1 "Instrumentation for Impact Test - Part 1: Electronic Instrumentation" 6. SAE J211-2 "Instrumentation for Impact Test - Part 2: Photographic Instrumentation" (Note: Equipment Mount Test Research DRAFT - see attachment: References) Technical Understanding, Management, Approach and Experience: The degree to which the Contractor can demonstrate his ability to complete equipment mount and cabinet door integrity testing, within a sled test environment, to aid in the validation of Reference 3. Also, the degree to which the Contractor can demonstrate his understanding and approach to deriving a dynamic-to-static design factor for ambulance equipment mounts. 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the approach needed to test equipment mounts in order to validate Section 1 through Section 7 of Reference 3. 2. Demonstrate an understanding of the approach needed to test cabinet door and latch integrity in order to validate Section 8 through Section 11 of Reference 3. 3. Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic-to-static design factor issue. Provide a description of the approach the Contractor recommends to develop these dynamic-to-static factors. If different from the methodology proposed by the Government, provide explanation as to why the Conttactor's proposed method is superior. 4. Describe the Contractor's approach to acquire or develop the test assets not otherwise provided as GFE. 5. The degree to which the proposed personnel are qualified to perform the work. 6. The degree to which the contractor has experience with work of similar scope, magnitude and complexity. Equipment: 7. The availability of sled test equipment to perform sled tests to the pulses of Reference 1, Reference 2, and Reference 4. Location: 8. Proximity of the testing facility within 400 miles of the NIOSH Morgantown facility. The complete solicitation document, and reference material, if applicable, will be available for downloading at www.fedbizopps.gov on or about January 13, 2012 and quotes will be due on or about January 30, 2012. No verbal or written requests for copies will be accepted. It is the responsibility of perspective offerors to stay abreast of additional postings regarding this solicitation at the FedBizOpps internet site. No government-wide notes apply. All vendors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to an award of a federal contract. The website is: www.ccr.gov All responsible responsive sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. Based on availability of funds, the government may exercise options for additional specimen tests during fiscal year FY12