Commandant (G-ACS-2A/JM), U. S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW, Washington, DC 20593-0001

58 -- EQUIPMENT OR PROCESSES THAT MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED BY INDUSTRY OR ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION THAT MAY BE APPLIED TO THE NEEDS OF SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS Contact: LT Jim Malene, Ph: (202) 267-6212/Contracting Officer: Ms. Shirley Kyle, Ph: (202) 267-2514. The U. S. Coast Guard has a Request for Information (RFI) to facilitate a market investigation by the Interagency Committee on Search and Rescue (ICSAR). This is not an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not a commitment by the Coast Guard or any other Federal Agency to procure the subject services or equipment. ICSAR is responsible for coordination of U.S. Search and Rescue (SAR) activities of the federal agencies in accordance with their responsibilities outlined in the National SAR Plan. ICSAR membership includes the following agencies: Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, Department of Interior, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ICSAR is chaired by the US Coast Guard as the Department of Transportation member. The Committee has appointed a Research and Development (R&D) Working Group to prepare recommendations on the application of technological advances to SAR operations in accordance with strategic goal to ``develop and apply better, reliable, compatible, low cost and easy-to-use technology'' to Search and Rescue. The R&D Working Group has developed ``SAR Vision 2010'' in recognition of the needs of SAR and the current R&D Efforts being carried out by the various U.S. and Canadian agencies. ICSAR is seeking information about equipment or processes that may have already been developed by industry or are under consideration that may be applied to the needs of SAR operations in the 1996 to 2010 period. No procurement is contemplated in direct connection with this RFI; however, the information provided will be made available to the involved federal agencies to assist in their planning and possible procurement. The Committee seeks particulars on equipment or software that can be applied to reduce search, rescue and recovery time for persons in distress, and to improve SAR response effectiveness. The SAR operations of interest include aeronautical SAR, maritime SAR, urban SAR and wilderness SAR (urban SAR is associated with rescue of person from collapsed structures). The objective and Goals of SAR vision 2010 are as follows: a. Vision - ``Apply the Most Effective Systems to Save More Lives with Less Risk at Less Cost.'' b. Objectives - Foster innovation in technical, administrative and informational systems which will improve the ability of participating agencies (and associated non-governmental organizations) with search and rescue responsibilities to respond to SAR emergencies. Specific objectives are: (1) Detect distress and assist search and rescue from space. (2) Improve passive and active search capabilities to locate the distress. (3) Foster the development of low cost distress alerting and locating systems with 2-way communication devices. (4) Develop innovative methods for that extraction, evacuation, transportation and treatment of survivors. (5) Develop improvements in the management and prosecution of Search and Rescue. c. Goals - Establish and achieve the following performance standards with a reliability of 90%: (1) Notify the proper responder with location information within five minutes; (2) Launch SAR effort within 15 minutes of notification; (3) Arrive at the scene with appropriate resources within 1.5 hours of notification; (4) Locate survivors within 30 minutes after arrival on scene; stabilize within 50 minutes of arrival on scene; prepare for transit within 60 minutes of arrival on scene; (5) Achieve a false alarm response rate of less than 10 percent; (6) Reduce casualties among rescuers to zero percent; and (7) Reduce cost per life saved. d. Ultimate Goal: WHEN POSSIBLE, RESCUE WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR. This RFI provides an opportunity for informal government-industry partnership in developing requirements for equipment and services which may be used by the government and other organizations involved in SAR. However, the federal agencies involved have no immediate plans to award contracts based on this RFI. The mutual advantage of working together on this project is that existing and planned equipment and service capabilities can be taken into account in development of SAR requirements, and providers can better take into account SAR needs in developing future capabilities. Responses to this RFI are requested within 60 days of publication in the CBD. No responses from potential providers of equipment or services will be returned to the provider of the information. All information provided, either in response to this RFI or follow up requests, will be considered to be available in the public domain. If the response is not clear the Working Group may request clarification. The R&D Working Group has developed a document entitled ``SAR Vision 2010'' which outlines the objectives and goals of ICSAR, summarizes the major SAR needs and describes the specific R&D tasks that are underway by both U.S. and Canadian Agencies. An anticipated schedule for inserting the various R&D tasks into SAR operations is shown together with their relationship to SAR needs, application to type of SAR, mission stages and the fulfillment of the Vision 2010. Interested parties may obtain a copy of ``SAR Vision 2010'' by writing to U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street, SW, Washington, DC 20593-0001. Attn: SAR Vision 2010 or calling 202/267-1580. SAR Vision is also available on the Internet at: http//www.navcen.uscg.mil. Responses to this RFI should address the ``Needs and Technologies'' contained in SAR Vision 2010, and provide descriptions of associated equipment, system, services. Responses should be mailed to the same address indicated above. (145)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0337 19960529\58-0001.SOL)