FLORENCE — Two emergency medical service providers submitted bids to provide service for Lauderdale County.

The two bids — from Lauderdale EMS, the current provider, and Shoals Ambulance — were opened Tuesday morning at the Lauderdale County Commission meeting room.

County administrator Brenda Bryant said 13 packages were sent to potential bidders.

Lauderdale EMS is based in Florence and is under the umbrella of Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield,

Shoals Ambulance Service is based out of Muscle Shoals.

Lauderdale 911 Director George Grabryan read the pricing bids from the two vendors during the meeting. The bid from Lauderdale EMS included $290 for advance life support non-emergency calls, $450 for ALS emergency calls, $244 for basic life support calls and $600 for speciality care calls.

The bid from Shoals Ambulance Service was $490 for ALS non-emergency calls, $595 for ALS emergency calls, $400 for BLS calls and $700 for specialty care calls.

Grabryan emphasized that the pricing is just "one component" of the entire bid package.

County officials said the bid package includes specifications for equipment, staffing, location of ambulances, the number of ambulances proposed for the coverage area as well as response time.

"All of this information (included in the bids) will be compiled and forwarded to the Florence City Council as well as to the County Commission to review," Grabryan said.

Since it is a joint bid, the commission and the city of Florence must agree on the service provider.

Grabryan said he will try to have the information put together for the two entities to review by early next week.

"Once we get the information, we'll review it, compare it and discuss it," said Lauderdale County Commission Larry Irons, who attended Tuesday's bid opening.

This is first time the emergency medical service for the county, as a whole, has been put up for bid. Previously, county ambulance service bids excluded the area covered by the Killen-Center Star Rescue Squad. In December, commissioners voted to seek an all-encompassing bid to include every municipality in the county.

Lauderdale EMS currently provides emergency medical service to the city of Florence and all of the county with the exception of Killen, Center Star and Greenhill.

There are 14,000 households covered by Killen-Center Star Rescue Squad.

County officials said Lauderdale EMS has agreed to continue providing ambulance service on a month-to-month basis until the bid is awarded.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.