Milford Twp. seeking bids for ALS services

After over a year of deliberation, the Milford Township Board of Trustees at its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 17 approved a final version of a request for proposals (RFP) to send to ambulance companies throughout Oakland County for advanced life support (ALS) transport services.

The RFP will call for a company to be the secondary medical response agency to the Milford Fire Department, which would provide basic life support (BLS) transport services.

The township has indicated that it is seeking to enter a contract for a period of five years.

The Milford Fire Department and the chosen private sector company would work together to provide transport of the sick and injured to area hospitals.

The company would be asked to provide 24-7 ALS coverage, including providing emergency medical dispatch instruction for Milford Police Department dispatchers.

In addition, the company would be asked to meet monthly with the fire chief and the township supervisor, or their designees, to review run statistics for the prior month and resolve any issues.

In the RFP, the township is asking for an ambulance company to submit its credentials, including its experience and financial strength, as well as its policies on operations, personnel and training, reporting and community outreach.

The RFP was approved by a 5-2 vote, with township Supervisor Don Green and Trustee Dale Wiltse casting the votes against the measure.

“I’m concerned about the Fire Department doing 25 percent of the BLS runs, as well as liability issues,” Green said. “My main objective is that the government isn’t supposed to compete with the private sector.”

Green send that he believes the RFPs will be sent out to companies after Jan. 1.

The RFP draft process has taken over a year since the board decided in September 2011 to expand its search for a township ambulance service provider to include other providers in the county.