Norton Medical Industries provides drug and alcohol testing services including sample collection, laboratory testing, medical review, and program management. They currently service El Paso's transit and parks departments. Samples would be collected via subcontracted collection sites and sent to MedTox laboratory for testing. The day-to-day program would be managed by Paula Rojas and Norton employs 15 people total to handle customer service and issues. Norton aims to provide responsive, high quality testing and support services to make the process easy for their clients.

1.
Norton Medical Industries
Drug Testing and Alcohol Screening – Fire
Page 7 of 32
RFQ No. 2016-892R
Service Plan
Norton Medical Industries currently provides all of the requested types of testing
(reasonable suspicion, random, post-accident, return-to-work) as well as pre-
employment testing for El Paso’s Public Transit System and Parks and Recreation
department.
Additionally, we perform data management and MRO services directly, supply chain
of custody forms and other necessary supplies, and facilitate collection, testing,
storage and all other related services for the El Paso Municipal entities. Laboratory
screening will be performed by MedTox, which is SAMHSA certified and one of the
most respected laboratories in the country. MedTox will screen all received urine
samples using the FDA-approved EMIT Method, and positive results confirmed via
GC/MS. MedTox certification documents are included later in this proposal.
We have subcontracted a total of nine (9) collection sites within El Paso, but the two
most often utilized by El Paso Transit are Confidential Drug Testing (CDT) at 2727
Wyoming and ACTDT at 7501 Lockheed. Both provide 24-hour on-call service, but
ACTDT currently provides post-accident coverage for the transit people, and they can
be utilized by Fire as well. When requested, they will send a collector to a location
designated by El Paso Fire to perform a urine collection or Breath Alcohol Test, or El
Paso Fire can go to them at their facilities on Lockheed.
Most of transit’s regular hours drug tests are performed through CDT on Wyoming.
When a fire fighter presents at CDT, a breath alcohol test or urine collection will be
performed within 10 minutes.
The person who will manage the day-to-day operations of this program will be Paula
Rojas, Senior Program Manager and 15-year Norton veteran. She can be reached at
extension 231 or by email at paula@nortonmedical.com. However, Norton Medical
Industries employs a total of 15 people in its main office in the San Fernando Valley
area of Los Angeles, and all are trained to solve issues that may arise.
While it has maintained a massive client base for decades, Norton Medical Industries
has also managed to remain lean enough to stay flexible and respond to emerging
problems swiftly and decisively. Every phone call made to Norton Medical’s offices is
answered by a live, trained administrator. Not only do we offer premium top-shelf
testing, but comparable customer service as well. We exist to make this process easier
for our clients. When a client contacts us about an audit, we produce every requested
report and document to quickly satisfy the auditor.
Each collection site will overnight FedEx (at the lab’s expense) collected urine
samples to MedTox the same day they are collected, and MedTox usually reports the
results to Norton early the next morning, at which point they are recorded in Norton’s
database, posted on the secure website, and become part of El Paso Fire’s records.
Negative results are most often reported the next day. When the laboratory reports
non-negative results, the donor will be contacted by Dr. Zablen, a pathologist and
internal medicine specialist for over 40 years, before any positive results are reported.

2.
Norton Medical Industries
Drug Testing and Alcohol Screening – Fire
Page 8 of 32
RFQ No. 2016-892R
Dr. Zablen also outlines the Return-to-Work process and refers the donor to a
Substance Abuse Professional to steer him or her onto the track to recovery before
confirming a positive drug test.
Most third-party drug testing administrators outsource Medical Review Officer
requirements to an MRO service, whereas Norton Medical is led by one of the most
prolific and experienced MROs in the history of drug testing – whose expertise
benefits every Norton client. Dr. Zablen was first certified as an MRO before the
Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 was signed into law, and has
stayed abreast of the evolution of drug testing regulations since the early 1980s.
Norton Medical can meet all specifications described in the solicitation in droves after
administering scores of identical programs for decades.
We will send the necessary supplies to every collection site as well as to El Paso Fire
administrators. Dr. Zablen and his decades of drug testing experience will be available
for any necessary consultation at any time. Much of the program management can be
performed by El Paso administrators through Norton’s secured, password-protected
website. Not only does the site deliver results and random selections, but tracks the
progress of testing as each sample is collected. When an officer leaves the
organization or takes a leave of absence, administrators can remove him or her from
random pools through the website directly.
Norton will screen each officer’s urine for all of the following substances:
“El Paso Fire 10-Panel”:
1. Marijuana
2. Cocaine
3. Amphetamines (including methamphetamines)
4. Opiates (including heroin)
5. PCP
6. Barbiturates
7. Benzodiazepines
8. Expanded and synthetic opiates including Methadone
9. Methaqualone (Quaalude)
10. Propoxyphene
As soon as we are awarded the contract, we will ship Chain of Custody forms to each
collection site, and the program can begin as soon as we receive a spreadsheet of
existing covered officers. With a Norton Medical Custody Form in-hand, any El Paso
Fire Fighter can walk in to any collection site in the area and receive a drug test.
Any divisions within the department can be set up in Norton’s system as a separate
entity. Supervisors of each individual division will have access to that group’s drug
testing records only, while departmental administrators can be given access to the
program in its entirety. If specific divisions desire a more convenient collection site or
on-site collection service, Norton Medical will satisfy each individually.
We will speak to each El Paso Fire administrator to pinpoint how Norton Medical can
improve and streamline operations. We will notify the DER (designated employer