The Defense Medical Materiel Program Office (DMMPO) intends to issue a Request for Incentive Agreement Quotations (RFIAQ) for the standardization of Epidural Trays and Needles. The actual issue date for this RFIAQ should be on or about 19 September 2012 but could be delayed up to forty five (45) business days. The primary objective of this effort is to standardize the quality of care across the Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) and operational assemblages based on the critical balance of clinical efficacy and value. The intent for this initiative is the standardization of a clinically preferred product(s) and source for institutional and operational medicine requirements at the lowest price. It is also intended for this initiative to result in the reduction of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and National Stock Numbers (NSN). As an enterprise-wide clinically driven program, vendors and products must meet specific technical requirements, plus products must meet or exceed specific clinical performance expectations as a primary consideration. Among vendors who meet the technical requirements and the products that meet or exceed the clinical acceptability, then clinically preferred, best value will determine selection. It is intended that the selected vendor(s) for this Standardization Action (SA) will support the enterprise goal of medical materiel standardization that combines operational and institutional requirements.

Examples of items being solicited could include, but are not limited to: sterile, latex free/safe, disposable Epidural Trays and Needles with close-fitting, removable stylets and clear plastic hubs in the following configurations and sizes: Epidural Needle - 20 Gauge x 3.5 inch Tuohy Needle, Continuous Epidural Tray - 17 or 18 gauge x 3.5 inch Tuohy Needle, Combined Spinal/Epidural (CSE) Tray - 17 or 18 gauge x 3.5 inch Tuohy Epidural Needle with 26 or 27 Gauge x 4.68-5 inch Pencil Point Type Spinal Needle (i.e. Whitacre, Sprotte, Gertie Marx, etc). All trays will also include the following components: One (1): 25 gauge x 1-1.5 inch needle, One (1): 22 gauge x 1.25-1.5 inch needle, One (1): 18 gauge x 1.5 inch needle, One (1): 3 ml plastic syringe, One (1): 20 ml plastic syringe, One (1): 5-7 ml glass luer lock/slip Loss of Resistance syringe, One (1): Glass filter needle/straw, One (1): Sharps stick pad or sharps disposal cup, One (1): Calibrated epidural catheter 19 or 20 gauge x 36-40 inch, One (1): Catheter adaptor, One (1): Catheter support pad, One (1): Epidural Filter, 0.2 Micron, One (1): Paper towel, One (1): 4 inch fenestrated plastic drape with adhesive strip, Three (3): Prep sponges, Four (4): Gauze sponges {4 x 4 or 3 x 3}, One (1): Packet of providone iodine solution, One (1): 10 ml ampule of 0.9% Sodium Chloride, One (1): 5 ml ampule of 1.5% Lidocaine with Epinephrine 1:200,000, One (1): 5 ml ampule of 1% Lidocaine, and other items. The estimated value of the resultant Incentive Agreement (IA) will be approximately: $1,406,822.91 annually.

NOTE: This initiative will be part of the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor program which is executed by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Troop Support, Directorate of Medical Materiel and standardized products must be obtained through the Department of Defense (DoD) Prime Vendor (PV) Program. To participate in this Standardization Action (SA) your company must have a Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) and a separate commercial agreement with the current Med-Surg PV for each MMESO Area of Responsibility (AOR), i.e., Cardinal Health, and Owens & Minor, or be in the process of obtaining a DAPA and a separate commercial agreement with Cardinal Health and Owens & Minor. This requirement is pursuant to the DAPA clause by which DAPA holders agree to the standardization initiative and agree to allow PVs to distribute their products. The IA resulting from the solicitation is a supplement to the PV Program and is not a contract. For additional information regarding DLA Troop Support Medical's PV program, please access the DLA web site at https://www.medical.dla.mil. Vendor must update their DAPA numbers for this product line in the DAPA Management System with the country from which each line item is an end product, IAW the Trade Agreements Act. Vendors sponding
to the solicitation will be required to ensure that all DAPA line items/end products in the subject product line list the proper Trade Agreements Act country. Detailed information about the requirements and selection process will be provided in the RFIAQ. The purpose of this Pre-Solicitation Notice is to inform qualified entities interested in providing these services that the release of the RFIAQ is imminent. Upon issuance of the RFIAQ, all solicitation information will be available electronically on the Federal Business Opportunities website.