VA and GSA Contracts and H1N1 – Are You “Disaster Recovery” Ready?

On October 24, 2009, President Barack Obama declared the H1N1 “swine” flu outbreak a national emergency.  As a result of the H1N1 emergency declaration, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments can now purchase needed supplies from all GSA Schedule Contract and VA Schedule Contracts participating in the Disaster Recovery Purchasing Program. As noted in our previous posting on the Public Health Emergency declaration, GSA Schedule contract holders can decline state/local orders at their discretion, as long as they do so within five days of receipt of a task order (or within 24 hours for a credit card order).

GSA and VA Schedule Contractors participating in the program have the Disaster Recovery icon on the left visible online at GSA’s eLibrary and GSAAdvantage!® and are clearly identifiable as resources in this national emergency. Depending on the eventual scope and scale of the federal response, agencies may need to purchase immediate items (cleaning supplies, emergency shelters, medical equipment, etc.), complementary items (office supplies, hospital furniture, etc.), or services to enable effective and efficient outreach to affected populations (advertising, language services, etc.).

Below is a list of GSA and VA Schedules (partial list) that could be potentially relevant in this scenario.  See GSA’s Guide to H1N1 Influenza Support Products for more information.

VA Schedule Contracts

• 621 I Professional and Allied Healthcare Staffing Services
• 621 II Medical Laboratory Testing and Analysis Services
• 65 I B Pharmaceuticals and Drugs
• 65 II A Medical Equipment and Supplies
• 65 VII Invitro Diagnostics, Reagents, Test Kits and Test Sets
• 66 III Clinical Analyzers, Laboratory, Cost-per-Test

GSA Schedule Contracts

• 51 V Hardware SuperStore
• 541 Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions (AIMS): public outreach
• 66 Scientific Equipment and Services
• 71 Furniture
• 72 Furnishings and Floor Coverings
• 73 Food Service, Hospitality, Cleaning Equipment and Supplies, Chemicals, Services
• 736 Temporary Administrative and Professional Staffing (TAPS)
• 738 II Language Services
• 75 Office Supplies
• 76 Publication Media
• 78 Promotional Items (among other items/services)
• 84 Security and Emergency/Disaster Response (among other items/services)
• 874 Training Aids and Devices (among other items/services)

The GSA Schedule contract products and services are a complement to the VA Schedules shown here (partial list). Full GSA Schedule contract offerings are visible online at GSA’s eLibrary and GSAAdvantage!®.

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