Title
A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Authorizing And Approving The Appropriate City Officials To Issue A Purchase Order To Municipal Equipment Company, LLC For The Purchase Of A Second Set Of Bunker Gear For Fire Rescue And Beach Safety Personnel In The Total Amount Of $504,000.00 Based Upon The Lake County Contract Cooperative Bid Solicitation No. 17-0606h In Accordance With Section 38.41(C)(5) Of The Purchasing Ordinance (Piggyback).
Strategic Plan Focus
Public Safety
Body
Staff Recommends: Approval of the attached Resolution.
Explanation:
Our Personal Protective Equipment (Bunker Gear) is utilized by firefighters during firefighting activities. In order to minimize our exposures to carcinogens and toxins to our firefighters after being exposed to products of combustion, a 2nd set of bunker gear will be issued to all firefighters. This will allow firefighters to don clean bunker gear after the incident has been mitigated and while the dirty bunker gear is washed and dried. The washing and drying of bunker gear takes a few hours to complete. Cancer in the Fire Service has been increasing in an alarming rate due to the exposures to the products of combustion.
In July 2019, the decision was made to form a committee to begin the evaluation process to determine which Protective Gear Ensemble (Bunker Gear) would be acceptable replacements to the current gear used by the Department. The membership of the Committee was selected to represent a variety of the members of the Department, with sample representation of various ages, rank, seniority, and current assignment. A committee of nine members was selected to research, evaluate and test the gear of the four manufacturers of Bunker Gear with a goal to evaluate the fit, form, and function from a selection of available Bunker Gear Ensembles that met a basic standard, while being inclusive of new technologies that better protect our Firefighters. This process included multiple formal presentations, technical review and extensive field testing. The process, coupled with in depth research, serves as the strong foundation of this report and the recommendations that are made.
The primary goal of this process was to determine the Bunker Gear and options most suited to our personnel’s needs and desires. Goals included reasonably obtaining the most advanced technology available including Cancer Prevention, color options, fit and form. Another area of concern was that the vendor and manufacturer’s support would be adequate and confirming a satisfactory equipment performance history. Information from all of these areas was used to build a complete specification package addressing our current and future needs.
There were five manufacturers that were invited to participate in the selection process. They were Lion, Morning Pride, Viking, Glove, and Innotex.
The top scoring set of Bunker Gear was Lion. It received 9 of the 9 committee member’s votes. Lion was consistently the first choice as the number one for comfort, fit, design, and ingenuity. The committee has had very positive experiences with form and function of this set-up. The Red Zone Package is hands down the best Cancer Prevention design out of any of the other manufacturers.
The Department desires to piggyback on existing Lake County, Florida contract 17-0606H with Municipal Equipment Company, LLC to purchase Bunker Gear in the amount of $504,000.00. The solicitation was competitively bid by Lake County pursuant to ITB No. 17-0606 on December 13, 2016, and the term of the contract is from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, with an option to renew the contract for four additional one-year periods. The current contract renewal has an expiration date of June 30, 2021.
Fiscal Impact:
Funding for this purchase is available in account numbers 334.219901.52200.563010.001264.000.000 and 333.219901.52200.564530.001191.000.000.
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Alexander Poli, Division Chief
Rodolfo Jurado, Fire Chief
George R. Keller, Jr., CPPT, Deputy City Manager