City Wide AED Maintenance and Tracking Software

The Palo Alto Fire Department is seeking qualified contractors to provide comprehensive maintenance services for the City of Palo Alto's network of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). This program ensures that all AED units located throughout City facilities and vehicles remain in optimal working condition, supporting the City’s commitment to public safety and emergency readiness.

The selected contractor will be responsible for quarterly on-site inspections of AEDs citywide—excluding units assigned to the Palo Alto Police Department and the Palo Alto Utilities—as well as semi-annual testing of all current and future AEDs added to the City’s inventory. Services include replacing expired or defective pads and batteries, providing loaner units when devices require off-site hardware or software evaluation, and ensuring uninterrupted AED availability across City locations.

To support effective asset management, the contractor will also supply the Fire Department with access to a real-time online tracking system capable of monitoring inspection status, recording City-performed checks, and reporting device-specific issues. Vendors must be able to service the City’s current AED models—including units manufactured by ZOLL Medical, Physio-Control, and Stryker—as well as any future devices procured during the contract term.

Background

The City of Palo Alto’s AED program plays a critical role in supporting rapid, effective response to cardiac emergencies across numerous sites and vehicles located throughout. The Fire Department is responsible for providing maintenance for the network of AED units, ensuring that employees and community members have access to lifesaving equipment. Maintaining a state of readiness across this network is essential to public safety and operational reliability.

Over time, the City’s AED fleet has expanded and diversified, currently consisting of 120 devices across multiple manufacturers and models. This growth, combined with the varying environments in which AEDs are deployed, has increased the complexity of tracking device health, ensuring timely replacement of pads and batteries, and documenting compliance with industry standards. The City must also ensure that all AED maintenance and documentation align with regional requirements established by Santa Clara County, which outline expectations for AED readiness, inspection intervals, and overall program oversight.

While City personnel perform periodic checks, the lack of a centralized monitoring system and the need for consistent technical inspections have created operational challenges that limit efficiency and oversight. A successful maintenance services contract will help the City close these gaps by establishing a structured inspection schedule, ensuring prompt servicing of defective units, and giving Fire Department staff access to a modern, real-time tracking platform. The ideal vendor will bring expertise with the City’s AED models, deliver proactive maintenance, and provide dependable support that ensures full regulatory compliance and keeps every AED immediately ready for life-saving use.

Project Details

• Reference ID: RFP196713
• Department: Fire
• Department Head: Geo Blackshire (Fire Chief)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-03-13T20:00:00.000Z

Addenda

• Addendum #1 (released 2026-03-17T17:57:52.710Z) —

  Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.

Evaluation Criteria

• Quality of the Proposal (Required) (10 pts) —

  Quality and completeness of proposal

• Proposed Solution (Required) (15 pts) —

  Quality, performance and effectiveness of the solution, goods and/or services to be provided by the Proposer

• Experience (Required) (10 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s experience, including the experience of staff to be assigned to the project, with engagements of similar scope and complexity

• Cost (Required) (10 pts) —

  Proposed cost to the City

• Financial Condition and Stability (Required) (10 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s financial condition and stability

• Timely Performance (Required) (10 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s ability to perform the contract within the time specified

• Prior Record of Performance for Government Agencies (Optional) (15 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s prior record of performance with the city or other local, county or state agency

• Ability to Provide Ongoing Services (Optional) (10 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s ability to provide in the future any maintenance, repairs, parts and/or services

• Compliance (Required) (10 pts) —

  Consultant or contractor’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies (including city policies), guidelines and orders governing prior or existing contracts performed by the consultant or contractor

Submission Requirements

• Business Type (required) —

  Please indicate the type of business that your company will continue operating as.

• Business Type Follow-Up (required) —

  If you indicated "Other" on the previous question, please explain here.

• Year of Incorporation (required) —

  Please indicate the year of incorporation (if applicable). If not incorporated, please indicate such.

• State Incorporated (required) —

  In what state was your company incorporated?

• Business In California (required) —

  When was your company authorized to do business in the State of California?

• Qualifications of Firm - Experience of Firm (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload. For additional instructions on this form, please see the section of this RFP titled "Proposal Content and Format" and the subsection titled "Qualifications of the Firm".

• Department of Industrial Relations Registration (required) —

  It has been indicated that this contract will require prevailing wage. Please provide your DIR Registration Number at this time.

• Contractor's License (required) —

  Please provide your California Contractors License Number at this time.

• Proposal (required) —

  Please Upload your Technical Proposal here. Upload fee proposal separately in the next step.

• Proposal (without Cost) (required) —

  Please upload your Technical Proposal without fees/costs here. You will be uploading the fee/cost portion of your proposal separately in another step.

• Separate Cost File (required) —

  The fees/costs portion of your proposal should not be attached with the rest of your Proposal and should be attached separately here using the document provided. Please download, update and review before uploading your fee/cost information here.

• Evidence of Financial Stability-REQUIRED SUBMITTAL (required) —

  Please upload your Evidence of Financial Stability 

• Additional Information —

  If any of your previous answers required additional information to be submitted or provided, please upload all such information here.

• Proposer Confirmation (required) —

  By confirming, the submission of a proposal shall be deemed a representation and certification by the Proposer that they have investigated all aspects of the RFP, that they are aware of the applicable facts pertaining to the RFP process, its procedures and requirements, and they have read and understand the RFP. No request for modification of the proposal shall be considered after its submission on the grounds that the Proposer was not fully informed as to any fact or condition.

  Confirmation by the Proposer represents and warrants that he or she has the legal capacity and authority to bind the Company stated on the RFP submittal.

• Division (required) —

  What Division of the Department owns this project?

  NOTE: Do NOT enter the word "Division" with your entry. If you intend for the procurement to state "Engineering Division" then simply type "Engineering".

• Brief Project Description (required) —

  Fill in the blank:

  The City of Palo Alto is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide services for _______________.

  Example:
  janitorial maintenance in various facilities including but not limited to waste removal, sweeping and mopping and polishing floors, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, restocking paper towels and toilet paper in restrooms, and replacing air fresheners.

• Project/WBS# —

  Separate from the Project ID (Bid/RFP#), has a project or WBS # been assigned? If so, please provide.

• Work Order # —

  If a Work Order # has been assigned, please provide at this time.

• Contract and Payment Method (required) —

  How will payment for this contract be structured?

• Multi-Year Contract (required) —

  Is this request expected to result in a multi-year contract? If so, how many years? Or is this a one time contract? Or would you like to specify some other answer? If you select "Other", please specify in follow-up question.

• Multi-Year Contract ("Other") (required) —

  When asked if this was a multi-year contract, you selected "Other". Please specify here.

• Qualifications of Firm Experience of Firm Requirement(s) - Required (always yes) (required) —

  Is there an experience requirement or multiple experience requirements for this contract/project?

• License or Certification (required) —

  Is the awarded proposer for this RFP required to possess a valid State of California Contractor's License or a Professional Certification of some kind?

• Prevailing Wage (required) —

  Will prevailing wage requirements apply to this project?

• Certified Payroll Frequency (required) —

  Would you like to check Certified Payroll Records weekly rather than within 10 days of a given request?

• Pre-Bid/Proposal? —

  Will there be a pre-bid/proposal meeting or conference scheduled for this solicitation?

• Pre-Bid/Proposal Attendance —

  Since you have indicated there will be a pre-bid/proposal meeting or conference, will attendance be mandatory or non-mandatory?

  Please note that mandatory attendance requires all those submitting a bid or proposal to attend and those not in attendance will be unable to submit a responsive bid or proposal.

• Electronic Line Items (required) —

  Would you like to have bidders respond to an electronic pricing table instead of uploading a separate sheet or series of pricing sheets?

• Separate Pricing Sheet(s) (required) —

  If you are NOT using the Electronic Pricing Table option, will you want your bidder to separate a Price Proposal from the rest of their Response? You'll want to do this if you open your bids initially WITHOUT showing price for any number of reasons, and then come back in after a technical evaluation to unseal pricing later.

• Innovations (required) —

  Do you wish to allow Proposers to suggest technical or procedural innovations that may assist in providing better service?

• Prior Performance as Criteria (required) —

  Is Contractor's prior record of performance with the City or other government agencies required for evaluating proposals for this solicitation?

• Future Services as Criteria (required) —

  Is Contractor's ability to provide future maintenance, repairs, parts and/or services required for evaluating proposals for this solicitation?

• Independent Contractor? (required) —

  Will Service Provider be an independent contractor and will a Live Scan be required?

Questions & Answers