Shelbyville Ambulance Selection Narrows To One Provider?

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

The city of Shelbyville requested proposals for ambulance service by providing the RFP found at this link.

Of interest within the RFP is the following requirement from the city:

For emergency/911 calls only, the City of Shelbyville will require a minimum of two (2) advanced life support (ALS) ambulances per license request, and that at least two (2) advanced life support (ALS) ambulances be available at all times to service the City’s needs.

Based on the RFP language, the city is mandating no less than 2 ALS ambulances to be available at all times.

We obtained the proposals submitted to date and it appears three companies are seeking the 1 available license, however, 1 of those companies, Abbott EMS, does not meet the required 2 ALS ambulances being available at all times according to their proposal and the other proposal from Rural Med was not a proposal for the city but rather the County, leaving 1 proposal that meets the criteria set by the city.

According to Abbott’s proposal, they will provide “one (1) 24-hour Advance Life Support (ALS) unit along with one (1) 12-hour ALS
unit 7 days a week.”  They also are seeking a 5-year moratorium that would prevent any other ambulance operator from obtaining a license.

Rural Med’s proposal was to the county, for which they would provide only 2 ALS ambulances for the County. “Rural Med LLC proposes the following bid for the County of Shelby. Rural Med will staff a minimum of 2 ALS units 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Lakeside EMS, a Veteran owned company, proposed full compliance with the city’s requirement of 2 ALS ambulances 24/7.- “2 ALS Ambulances 24/7 with backup units for heavy call volume.”

Of interest in the comparison sheet provided by the city, there is no mention of the fact Rural Med’s proposal was for the County, not the city.

Within the comparison sheet, Lakeside EMS was the only entity that had numerous references provided.

We note that the city provided a document created by Decatur in their selection process.  We find it concerning that the Decatur city manager’s only comment about Lakeside EMS was that they are not currently a 911 front-line provider in any location, as if that is a negative.  While the statement was true, it misrepresents the history of Lakeside and its ability. They have provided front-line 911 service including running front-line 911 calls in the City of New York and New Orleans and over a dozen other cities with over a million people.

Based on the proposals it would appear Lakeside EMS meets and exceeds the requirements for the license to provide ambulance service to Shelbyville.

We understand the city has not issued a license to date.