The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the Ambulance Manufacturers Division (AMD) of the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is undertaking an effort to improve the safety of the patient compartment of an ambulance. One building block in that effort will be the development of underlying crash criteria for frontal and side impacts. Once completed, these data will support key components of the design and testing criteria to improve seating, restraints, patient gurneys, and equipment mounts. The overarching goal of the project is to reduce the likelihood any of these devices would fail structurally, in the event of a vehicle crash or evasive maneuver, causing injury to the crew, patients, or other individuals while in transit. The team has already completed work to characterize vehicle response in a frontal crash event. The team is now pursuing testing to characterize the response of an ambulance in a side impact crash event. To that end, NIOSH has developed a request for quotes to acquire the services of a test facility to complete all required testing. That contract is expected to be finalized by March, 26, 2010, with the hope that side impact testing can be completed by May 16, 2010. As currently written, the government may cover the bulk of the cost of testing but has not allocated funding for the procurement of the two required ambulances. The testing contract anticipates the testing of two ambulances: a Type II and either a Type I or III. Each ambulance will be tested twice, with impacts to the street and curb side respectively, for a total of four side impact tests. Testing will be conducted in accordance with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's, "Side Impact Crashworthiness Evaluation, Crash Test Protocol (Version V)," dated May 2008. Note 1: All vehicle response data (accelerometer data collected on the chassis and patient compartment, respectively) will be shared with all current partners and used by them to support the development of a "side impact test corridor" for all ambulances. Eventually, the data resulting from this testing will be made available to the public. In support of this effort, the NIOSH and its collaborative partners are seeking additional partners to provide material and financial support. That support can take many forms. Specific opportunities to provide support are outlined below: 1. The team seeks one (1) Type II van type ambulance for destructive testing. The ambulance need not be new or drivable but it shall be largely free of rust in the frame and patient compartment. The ambulance chassis shall be a 2000 model year or newer. The ambulance shall not have any crash damage other than superficial dents and scratches. 2. The team seeks one (1) Type I or Type III box on chassis type ambulance for destructive testing. The ambulance need not be new or drivable but it shall be largely free of rust in the frame and patient compartment. Both the ambulance chassis and patient compartment shall be a 2000 model year or newer. The ambulance shall not have any crash damage other than superficial dents and scratches. The patient compartment may be a new or used patient compartment mounted on a used van or truck chassis appropriate for this application. Note 2: Prospective partners should not feel compelled to provide both ambulances for testing. The project team will likely seek more than one partner to cover the cost of this effort. Recognizing more than one prospective partner might emerge from this announcement, and also in recognition that the project team has a requirement for only two ambulances; a prospective partner could improve his offer by providing financial support to mitigate some of the costs associated with this test program. Note 3: Prospective partners should not feel compelled to offer financial consideration in addition to an ambulance. However, should more than 2 entities express an interest in participating the government and its partners will chose the offer(s) most advantageous to their interests. Examples of additional costs that could be considered by the prospective partner: 1. The cost to transport (drive or tow) the offered ambulance(s) to the test facility. (est. at $2,000 per vehicle) 2. The cost to prepare the vehicle(s) for crash testing (treating fuel systems, removing or covering identifying marking if desired, etc.) (est. at $3,000 per vehicle). 3. The cost to dispose of the vehicle(s) once all testing is complete. (If the prospective partner prefers, he can regain possession of the vehicle from the test facility upon its release by the government.) (est. at $2,500 per vehicle) 4. The cost of one or more moving deformable barriers (MDB) required for testing of the offered ambulance(s) (est. at $3,000 for each MDB, 2 MDB per vehicle, a total of 4 for the test program). A new MDB is required for each test. 5. The cost of instrumentation required to document the vehicle's response in each side impact event (est. at $4,000 per vehicle). 6. The cost to perform each test (est. at $6,000 for each of 4 tests - 2 per vehicle) Potential benefits to the proposed new partners: 1. This is an opportunity for the partner to have his vehicle patient compartment and patient compartment mounting system tested in a manner consistent with a proposed new SAE Recommended Practice. In the future, primary project partners may utilize the proposed SAE Recommended Practice to evaluate occupant restraint and equipment integrity in side impact design cases. 2. The partner will be invited to participate in the team's deliberations regarding the development of the SAE Recommended Practice for Side Impact Testing. 3. The proposed partner could utilize this opportunity to test new interior configurations, seating systems, restraints, gurney mounts, gurneys, equipment mounts or interior delethalization measures. Note 4: The government does not plan to include instrumented manikins in the proposed testing program. Should a prospective partner wish to evaluate a seating and/or restraint system, he will be responsible for the costs associated with such an addition to the test program. The resulting data from said manikins will be the sole property of the prospective partner and will not be shared with the government or its existing partners without the expressed written consent of the prospective partner. Note 5: While all partners, government and private, expect to use the resulting vehicle response data to support the proposed SAE Recommended Practice for side impact testing, participation in this study will not constitute "passing" any form of government certification or validation testing and may not be advertised as same. If interested, a prospective partner shall provide the following information to the NIOSH technical representative identified at the bottom of this announcement: 1. Chassis vehicle identification number (VIN) of proposed test vehicle. 2. Completed vehicle details, as contained on the GSA Certification Sticker, for the proposed test vehicle. 3. A series of exterior photos of the proposed vehicle from all four sides, as well as, a series of photos covering the interior of the patient compartment. 4. An itemized listing of those items the proposed partner wishes to contribute to financially, if any, to defray the cost of the testing program; or, 5. A single dollar amount the proposed partner wishes to contribute to the test effort, if any, to defray the cost of the testing program. Note 6: The test vehicles and any financial consideration offered as a result of this announcement will be provided to the selected test facility by the proposed partner(s) directly. The government will not take possession of the vehicles nor will they enter into a contractual agreement with the proposed vendor to transfer funds or resulting data. NIOSH, AMD-NTEA, NHTSA, nor the GSA promise to purchase, analyze or test any of the offered equipment. This announcement is a business opportunity in that the partner chosen, based on an engineering assessment and financial evaluation, will be positioned to share expertise with the full project team of researchers and will have an opportunity to shape the outcome of the proposed SAE Recommended Practice to be drafted by the project team. Those selected to participate will also be offered the opportunity to participate, onsite, during the testing of their vehicle. However, they will not be present during the testing of a vehicle produced by another vendor. Responses must be received by NIOSH no later than March 5, 2010 . Although every effort will be made to consider all information received, the government will not be obligated to evaluate information received after that date. Vendors should note any proprietary data as such. If any data is to be excluded from exchange with any of the project participants, a statement of that fact shall be included with the statement of propriety. Please send literature to and coordinate with: Paul H. Moore, Contracting Officer's Technical Representative CDC/NIOSH, MS/H-G1808 1095 Willowdale Road Morgantown, WV 26505 Phone: 304-285-6016 Fax: 304-285-5774
[email protected] (Please include 3 copies)