EMS Emergency Medical Services Corp

        We believe that our relations with our employees and independent contractors are good. None of our physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners or non-clinical employees are subject to any collective bargaining agreement.

        We offer our physicians substantial flexibility in terms of type of facility, scheduling of work hours, benefit packages, opportunities for relocation and career development. This flexibility, combined with fewer administrative burdens, improves physician retention rates and stabilizes our contract base.

EMSC Competitive Strengths

        We believe the following competitive strengths position our company to capitalize on the favorable trends occurring within the healthcare industry and the emergency medical services markets.

        Leading, Established Provider of Medical Services.     We are a leading provider of medical transportation services and facility-based outsourced physician services in the United States. We believe our track record of consistently meeting or exceeding our customers' service expectations, coupled with our ability to leverage our infrastructure and technology to drive increased productivity and efficiency, have contributed to our ability to retain existing and win new contracts. Additionally, we have successfully leveraged our core competencies to further expand our services to include hospitalist, radiology/teleradiology, anesthesiology, fixed-wing air ambulance and managed transportation.

        Significant Scale and Geographic Presence.     We believe our significant scale and geographic presence provide a competitive advantage over local and regional providers in most areas. We believe we have established best operating practices across our platform, leveraged our infrastructure and broadened our program offerings, which has enabled us to win new contracts, enter into national and regional contracts with healthcare facilities, managed care organizations and insurance companies, and enhanced our ability to recruit and retain quality personnel. Additionally, we believe our diverse revenue base and geographic footprint limit our exposure to any single market.

        Long-Term Relationships with Existing Customers.     We believe our long-term, well-established relationships with communities and healthcare facilities enhance our ability to retain existing customers and win new contracts.

        Strong Financial Performance.     One of the key factors our potential customers evaluate is financial stability. We believe our ability to demonstrate consistently strong earnings growth and cash flows will continue to differentiate our company, has enabled us to expand our service offerings and provides a competitive advantage in winning new contracts and renewing existing contracts.

        Focus on Risk Management.     Our risk management initiatives at EmCare are enhanced by the use of professional liability claims data and comprehensive claims management. We analyze this data to demonstrate claim trends on a national, regional, facility, physician and procedure level, helping to manage and mitigate risk exposure. AMR's risk/safety program is aimed at reducing worker injuries through training and improved equipment, and increasing vehicle safety through the use of training and technology.

        Investment in Core Technologies.     We utilize technology as a means to enhance the quality and reduce the cost of our service offerings, more effectively manage risk and improve our profitability. AMR uses proprietary technology to improve chart documentation, determine transportation service levels and track response times and other data for hospitals. EmCare uses proprietary physician recruitment software to improve recruitment efficiency and retention rates.

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Business Strategy

        Increase Revenue from Existing Customers.     We believe our long track record of delivering excellent service and quality patient care, as well as the expanded breadth of our services, creates opportunities for us to increase revenue from our existing customer base. We have established strategies aimed at assisting facilities, communities and payors to manage their cost of outsourced physician services and emergency, non-emergency and managed transportation services.

        Expand Our Existing Service Lines.     We continue to enter complementary service lines, at both AMR and EmCare, which we believe leverage our core competencies. At EmCare, we continued expansion of our anesthesiology services through acquisitions and cross-selling to existing facilities in 2010. At AMR, we continue to focus on our fixed-wing air ambulance services business and expand our managed transportation services. The market demand at both our existing customers and new customers for these services provide new growth opportunities.

        Grow Our Customer Base.     We believe we have a unique competency in the treatment, management and billing of episodic and unscheduled patient care. We believe our long operating history, significant scope and scale and leading market position provide us with new and expanded opportunities to grow our customer base. We have been successful in obtaining regional and national contracts for both operating segments with healthcare systems, free standing facilities and insurance providers for single and multiple service lines.

        Pursue Select Acquisition Opportunities.     The medical transportation services and facility-based physician services industries are highly fragmented, with only a few large national providers. We expect to continue pursuing select acquisitions in our existing business segments, including acquisitions to enhance our presence in existing markets and facilitate our entry into new geographic markets. We will also continue to explore the acquisition of complementary businesses and seek opportunities to expand the scope of services we provide.

        Utilize Technology to Differentiate Our Services and Improve Operating Efficiencies.     We intend to continue to invest in technologies that broaden our services in the marketplace, improve patient care, enhance our billing efficiencies and increase our productivity and profitability.

        Continued Focus on Risk Management.     We will continue to utilize risk management programs for loss prevention and early intervention. This may include continued use of clinical "fail safes" and technology and equipment in our ambulances to reduce vehicular incidents and lifting injuries.

Regulatory Matters

        As a participant in the healthcare industry, our operations and relationships with healthcare providers such as hospitals, other healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals are subject to extensive and increasing regulation by numerous federal and state government entities as well as local government agencies. Specifically, but without limitation, we are subject to the following laws and regulations.

Medicare, Medicaid and Other Government Reimbursement Programs

        We derive a significant portion of our revenue from services rendered to beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid and other government-sponsored healthcare programs. For 2010, we received approximately 22% of our net revenue from Medicare and 6% from Medicaid. To participate in these programs, we must comply with stringent and often complex enrollment and reimbursement requirements from the federal and state governments. We are subject to governmental reviews and audits of our bills and claims for reimbursement. Retroactive adjustments to amounts previously reimbursed from these programs can and do occur on a regular basis as a result of these reviews and audits. In addition, these

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programs are subject to statutory and regulatory changes, administrative rulings, interpretations and determinations, all of which may materially increase or decrease the payments we receive for our services as well as affect the cost of providing services. In recent years, Congress has consistently attempted to curb federal spending on such programs.

        Reimbursement to us typically is conditioned on our providing the correct procedure and diagnosis codes and properly documenting both the service itself and the medical necessity for the service. Incorrect or incomplete documentation and billing information, or the incorrect selection of codes for the level of service provided, could result in non-payment for services rendered or lead to allegations of billing fraud. Moreover, third party payors may disallow, in whole or in part, requests for reimbursement based on determinations that certain amounts are not reimbursable, they were for services provided that were not medically necessary, there was a lack of sufficient supporting documentation, or for a number of other reasons. Retroactive adjustments, recoupments or refund demands may change amounts realized from third party payors. Additional factors that could complicate our billing include:

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disputes between payors as to which party is responsible for payment,



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the difficulty of adherence to specific compliance requirements, diagnosis coding and various other procedures mandated by the government, and



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failure to obtain proper physician credentialing and documentation in order to bill governmental payors.

        Due to the nature of our business and our participation in the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement programs, we are involved from time to time in regulatory reviews, audits or investigations by government agencies of matters such as compliance with billing regulations and rules. We may be required to repay these agencies if a finding is made that we were incorrectly reimbursed, or we may lose eligibility for certain programs in the event of certain types of non-compliance. Delays and uncertainties in the reimbursement process adversely affect our level of accounts receivable, increase the overall cost of collection, and may adversely affect our working capital and cause us to incur additional borrowing costs. Unfavorable resolutions of pending or future regulatory reviews or investigations, either individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        We establish an allowance for discounts applicable to Medicare, Medicaid and other third party payors and for doubtful accounts based on credit risk applicable to certain types of payors, historical trends, and other relevant information. We review our allowance for doubtful accounts on an ongoing basis and may increase or decrease such allowance from time to time, including in those instances when we determine that the level of effort and cost of collection of certain accounts receivable is unacceptable.

        We believe that regulatory trends in cost containment will continue. We cannot assure you that we will be able to offset reduced operating margins through cost reductions, increased volume, the introduction of additional procedures or otherwise.

        Ambulance Services Fee Schedule.     In February 2002, the Health Care Financing Administration, now renamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, issued the Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule Final Rule, or Final Rule, that revised Medicare policy on the coverage of ambulance transport services, effective April 1, 2002. The Final Rule was the result of a mandate under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, or BBA, to establish a national fee schedule for payment of ambulance transport services that would control increases in expenditures under Part B of the Medicare program, establish definitions for ambulance transport services that link payments to the type of services furnished, consider appropriate regional and operational differences and consider adjustments to account for inflation, among other provisions.

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        The Final Rule provided for a five-year phase-in of a national fee schedule, beginning April 1, 2002. Prior to that date, Medicare used a charge-based reimbursement system for ambulance transport services and reimbursed 80% of charges determined to be reasonable, subject to the limits fixed for the particular geographic area. The patient was responsible for co-pay amounts, deductibles and the remaining balance of the transport cost, if we did not accept the assigned reimbursement, and Medicare required us to expend reasonable efforts to collect the balance. In determining reasonable charges, Medicare considered and applied the lowest of various charge factors, including the actual charge, the customary charge, the prevailing charge in the same locality, the amount of reimbursement for comparable services, and the inflation-indexed charge limit.

        The Final Rule categorizes seven levels of ground ambulance services, ranging from basic life support to specialty care transport, and two categories of air ambulance services. Ground providers are paid based on a base rate conversion factor multiplied by the number of relative value units assigned to each level of transport, plus an additional amount for each mile of patient transport. The base rate conversion factor for services to Medicare patients is adjusted each year by the Consumer Price Index. Additional adjustments to the base rate conversion factor are included to recognize differences in relative practice costs among geographic areas, and higher transportation costs that may be incurred by ambulance providers in rural areas with low population density. The Final Rule requires ambulance providers to accept assignment on Medicare claims, which means a provider must accept Medicare's allowed reimbursement rate as full payment. Medicare typically reimburses 80% of that rate and the remaining 20% is collectible from a secondary insurance or the patient. Originally, the Final Rule called for a five-year phase-in period to allow providers time to adjust to the new payment rates. The national fee schedule was to be phased in at 20% increments each year, with payments being made at 100% of the national fee schedule in 2006 and thereafter.

        With the passage of the Medicare Modernization Act, temporary modifications were made to the amounts payable under the ambulance fee schedule in order to mitigate decreases in reimbursement in some regions caused by the Final Rule. The Medicare Modernization Act established regional fee schedules based on historic costs in each region. Effective July 1, 2004, in those regions where the regional fee schedule exceeds the national fee schedule, the regional fee schedule was blended with the national fee schedule on a temporary basis, until January 1, 2010. In addition to the regional fee schedule change, the Medicare Modernization Act included other provisions for additional reimbursement for ambulance transport services provided to Medicare patients. Among other relief, the Medicare Modernization Act provided for a 1% increase in reimbursement for urban transports and a 2% increase for rural transports for the remainder of the original phase-in period of the national ambulance fee schedule, through December 31, 2006. In addition, effective July 1, 2008 the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 provided a temporary mitigation that provided for a 2% to 3% increase for blended rates which was in effect through December 31, 2009 and was subsequently extended to December 31, 2010 pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 extended this funding through December 31, 2011.

        We estimate that the impact of the ambulance service rate decreases under the national fee schedule, as modified by the provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act, resulted in an increase in AMR's net revenue of approximately $14 million in 2008, an increase in AMR's net revenue of approximately $24 million in 2009, and a decrease in AMR's net revenue of approximately $18 million in 2010. Based upon the current Medicare transport mix and barring further legislative action, we expect a potential decrease in AMR's net revenue of less than $1 million for 2011. We cannot predict whether Congress may make further refinements and technical corrections to the law or pass a new cost containment statute in a manner and in a form that could adversely impact our business.

        Local Ambulance Rate Regulation.     State or local government regulations or administrative policies regulate rate structures in some states in which we provide ambulance transport services. For example,

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in certain service areas in which we are the exclusive provider of ambulance transport services, the community sets the rates for emergency ambulance services pursuant to an ordinance or master contract and may also establish the rates for general ambulance services that we are permitted to charge. We may be unable to receive ambulance service rate increases on a timely basis where rates are regulated or to establish or maintain satisfactory rate structures where rates are not regulated.

        Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.     Medicare pays for all physician services based upon a national fee schedule, or Fee Schedule, which contains a list of uniform rates. The payment rates under the Fee Schedule are determined based on: (1) national uniform relative value units for the services provided, (2) a geographic adjustment factor and (3) a conversion factor. Payment rates under the Fee Schedule are updated annually. The initial element in each year's update calculation is the Medicare Economic Index, or MEI, which is a government index of practice cost inflation. The update is then adjusted up or down from the MEI based on a target-setting formula system called the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR. The SGR is a target rate of growth in spending for physician services which is intended to control the growth of Medicare expenditures for physicians' services. The Fee Schedule update is adjusted to reflect the comparison of actual expenditures to target expenditures. Because one of the factors for calculating the SGR system is linked to the U.S. gross domestic product, the SGR formula may result in a negative payment update if growth in Medicare beneficiaries' use of services exceeds GDP growth. Since 2002, the SGR formula has resulted in negative payment updates under the Fee Schedule which required Congress to take legislative action to reverse the scheduled payment cuts. In July of 2008, Congress passed legislation to prevent a 10.6% reduction in Medicare physician payments which was scheduled to take effect July 1, 2008. The legislation replaced the scheduled 10.6% cut with a 0.5% increase for the remainder of 2008 (retroactive to July 1, 2008) and raised reimbursement rates by an average of 1.1% in 2009. The Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Appropriations Act delayed the implementation of the reductions through February 28, 2010. The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, or PAYGO, exempts the amount it would cost to freeze payments for five years from PAYGO rules. H.R. 4691, which became law on March 2, 2010, delayed the payment cuts through March 31, 2010. Congress then passed, and the President signed, a bill that extended the payment cut delay through May 31, 2010. On June 25, 2010, further legislation was signed that increased fee schedule payments 2.2% retroactive to June 1 and continuing through November 30, 2010. On November 30, 2010, the President signed the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 into law, which extended the 2.2% increase for an additional month through December 31, 2010. On December 15, 2010, the President signed further legislation, the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010, delaying a 25 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement for physicians for a year. The legislation froze physicians' reimbursement for all of 2011. Medicare reimbursement to physicians will be reduced approximately 30 percent in 2012 unless Congress takes further action.

        Medicare Reassignment.     The Medicare program prohibits the reassignment of Medicare payments due to a physician or other healthcare provider to any other person or entity unless the billing arrangement between that physician or other healthcare provider and the other person or entity falls within an enumerated exception to the Medicare reassignment prohibition. Historically, there was no exception that allowed us to receive directly Medicare payments related to the services of independent contractor physicians. However, the Medicare Modernization Act amended the Medicare reassignment statute as of December 8, 2003 and now permits our independent contractor physicians to reassign their Medicare receivables to us under certain circumstances. In 2004, CMS promulgated regulations implementing this statutory change. The regulations impose two additional program integrity safeguard requirements on reassignments made under the independent contractor exception. These require that both the entity receiving payment and the physician be jointly and severally responsible for any Medicare overpayment to that entity; and the physician have unrestricted access to claims submitted by an entity for services provided by the physician. We have taken steps to ensure all reassignments by independent contractor physicians comply with these regulatory requirements.

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        Rules Applicable to Midlevel Practitioners.     EmCare utilizes physician assistants and nurse practitioners, sometimes referred to collectively as "midlevel practitioners," to provide care under the supervision of our physicians. State and federal laws require that such supervision be performed and documented using specific procedures. For example, in some states some or all of the midlevel practitioner's chart entries must be countersigned. Under applicable Medicare rules, in certain cases, a midlevel practitioner's services are reimbursed at a rate equal to 85% of the physician fee schedule amount. However, when a midlevel practitioner assists a physician who is directly and personally involved in the patient's care, we often bill for the services of the physician at the full physician fee schedule rates and do not bill separately for the midlevel practitioner's services. We believe our billing and documentation practices related to our use of midlevel practitioners comply with applicable state and federal laws, but we cannot assure you that enforcement authorities will not find that our practices violate such laws.

        Ambulance Rates Payable by Medicare HMOs.     One of the changes made by ambulance fee schedule Final Rule was to require ambulance providers to "accept assignment" from Medicare and Medicare HMOs. Medicare HMOs are private insurance companies which operate managed care plans that enroll Medicare beneficiaries who elect to enroll in a plan in lieu of regular Medicare coverage. When a provider accepts assignment, it agrees to accept the rate established by Medicare as payment in full for services covered by Medicare or the Medicare HMO and to write off the balance of its charges. Prior to the implementation of the Final Rule, ambulance providers were not required to accept assignment and could obtain payment from Medicare patients or Medicare HMOs for the provider's full charges, which typically are higher than the Medicare rate. When the requirement to accept assignment became effective on April 1, 2002, many Medicare HMOs continued to pay ambulance providers their full charges, even though they could have paid them the Medicare rate. Many Medicare HMOs subsequently have taken the position that the amount paid to such providers in excess of the Medicare rate constituted an overpayment that must be refunded by the provider. We have received such refund demands from some Medicare HMOs and, in order to minimize litigation costs, have agreed to partial repayment of amounts received from the plans in excess of the Medicare rate. We have no reason to believe that additional HMOs will make such demands, but we cannot assure you that there will be no further demands.

        The SNF Prospective Payment System.     Under the Medicare prospective payment system, or PPS, applicable to skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs, the SNFs are financially responsible for some ancillary services, including certain ambulance transports, or PPS transports, rendered to certain of their Medicare patients. Ambulance companies must bill the SNF, rather than Medicare, for PPS transports, but may bill Medicare for other covered transports provided to the SNF's Medicare patients. Ambulance companies are responsible for obtaining sufficient information from the SNF to determine which transports are PPS transports and which ones may be billed to Medicare. The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, or the OIG, has issued two industry-wide audit reports indicating that, in many cases, SNFs do not provide, or ambulance companies and other ancillary service providers do not obtain, sufficient information to make this determination accurately. As a result, the OIG asserts that some PPS transports that should have been billed by ambulance providers to SNFs have been improperly billed to Medicare. The OIG has recommended that Medicare recoup the amounts paid to ancillary service providers, including ambulance companies, for such services. Although we believe AMR currently has procedures in place to correctly identify and bill for PPS transports, we cannot assure you that AMR will not be subject to such recoupments and other possible penalties.

        Paramedic Intercepts.     Medicare regulations permit ambulance transport providers to subcontract with other organizations for paramedic services. Generally, only the transport provider may bill Medicare, and the paramedic services subcontractor must receive any payment to which it is entitled from that provider. Based on these rules, in some jurisdictions we have established "paramedic

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intercept" arrangements in which we may provide paramedic services to a municipal or volunteer transport provider. Although we believe AMR currently has procedures in place to assure that we do not bill Medicare directly for paramedic intercept services we provide, we cannot assure you that enforcement agencies will not find that we have failed to comply with these requirements.

        Patient Signatures.     Medicare regulations require that providers obtain the signature of the patient or, if the patient is unable to provide a signature, the signature of a representative as defined in the regulations, prior to submitting a claim for payment from Medicare. Historically, until January 1, 2008, an exception existed for situations where it is not reasonably possible to obtain a patient or representative signature, provided that the reason for the exception is clearly documented and certain additional documentation was completed. This exception was historically interpreted as applying to both emergency and non-emergency transports. Effective January 1, 2008, these regulations were revised and reinterpreted by CMS to limit this exception to emergency transports, provided the ambulance company obtained the signature of a representative of the receiving facility, or other specified documentation from that facility as proof of transport and maintains certain other documentation. Following this change, until a subsequent change became effective on January 1, 2009, if we were unable to obtain the signature of a Medicare non-emergency patient or a qualified representative, we could not bill Medicare for the transport and were required to seek payment directly from the patient. These revised requirements exacerbated the difficulty ambulance providers historically had in complying with the patient signature requirements. Effective January 1, 2009, Medicare again revised the signature requirements to expand the exception to non-emergency patients for whom it is not reasonably possible to obtain a patient or representative signature, provided the specified requirements are met. Even with these changes, the requirement to obtain patient signatures or comply with the requirements for meeting the exception could adversely impact our cash flow because of the delays that may occur in meeting such requirements, or our inability to bill Medicare when we are unable to do so. Further, although we believe AMR currently has procedures in place to assure that these signature requirements are met, we cannot assure you that enforcement agencies will not find that we have failed to comply with these requirements.

        Physician Certification Statements.     Under applicable Medicare rules, ambulance providers are required to obtain a certification of medical necessity from the ordering physician in order to bill Medicare for repetitive non-emergency transports provided to patients with chronic conditions, such as end-stage renal disease. For certain other non-emergency transports, ambulance providers are required to attempt to obtain a certification of medical necessity from a physician or certain other practitioners. In the event the provider is not able to obtain such certification within 21 days, it may submit a claim for the transport if it can document reasonable attempts to obtain the certification. Acceptable documentation includes any U.S. postal document (e.g., signed return receipt or Postal Service Proof of Service Form) showing that the ordering practitioner was sent a request for the certification. Although we believe AMR currently has procedures in place to assure we are in compliance with these requirements, we cannot assure you that enforcement agencies will not find that we have failed to comply.

        Coordination of Benefits Rules.     When our services are covered by multiple third party payors, such as a primary and a secondary payor, financial responsibility must be allocated among the multiple payors in a process known as "coordination of benefits," or COB. The rules governing COB are complex, particularly when one of the payors is Medicare or another government program. Under these rules, in some cases Medicare or other government payors can be billed as a "secondary payor" only after recourse to a primary payor (e.g., a liability insurer) has been exhausted. In some instances, multiple payors may reimburse us an amount which, in the aggregate, exceeds the amount to which we are entitled. In such cases, we are obligated to process a refund. If we improperly bill Medicare or other government payors as the primary payor when that program should be billed as the secondary payor, or if we fail to process a refund when required, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.

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Although we believe we currently have procedures in place to assure that we comply with applicable COB rules, and that we process refunds when we receive overpayments, we cannot assure you that payors or enforcement agencies will not find that we have violated these requirements.

        Consequences of Noncompliance.     In the event any of our billing and collection practices, including but not limited to those described above, violate applicable laws such as those described below, we could be subject to refund demands and recoupments. If our violations are deemed to be willful, knowing or reckless, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties under the False Claims Act or other statutes, including exclusion from federal and state healthcare programs. To the extent that the complexity associated with billing for our services causes delays in our cash collections, we assume the financial risk of increased carrying costs associated with the aging of our accounts receivable as well as increased potential for bad debts which could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, provision for uncompensated care and cash flow.

Federal False Claims Act

        Both federal and state government agencies have continued civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of numerous ongoing investigations of healthcare companies, and their executives and managers. Although there are a number of civil and criminal statutes that can be applied to healthcare providers, a significant number of these investigations involve the federal False Claims Act. These investigations can be initiated not only by the government but also by a private party asserting direct knowledge of fraud. These "qui tam" whistleblower lawsuits may be initiated against any person or entity alleging such person or entity has knowingly or recklessly presented, or caused to be presented, a false or fraudulent request for payment from the federal government, or has made a false statement or used a false record to get a claim approved. As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or the PPACA, which is also known as the healthcare reform legislation, statutory provisions were added which allow improper retention of an overpayment to be a basis for a false claim act allegation, even if the claim was originally submitted appropriately. Penalties for False Claims Act violations include fines ranging from $5,500 to $11,000 for each false claim, plus up to three times the amount of damages sustained by the federal government. A False Claims Act violation may provide the basis for exclusion from the federally-funded healthcare programs. In addition, some states have adopted similar insurance fraud, whistleblower and false claims provisions.

        The government and some courts have taken the position that claims presented in violation of the various statutes, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law, described below, can be considered a violation of the federal False Claims Act based on the contention that a provider impliedly certifies compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and other rules when submitting claims for reimbursement. Last year, as part of PPACA, Congress passed legislation supporting this theory, thereby making it easier for the government to prosecute violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute as False Claim Act violations.

Federal Anti-Kickback Statute

        We are subject to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The Anti-Kickback Statute is broadly worded and prohibits the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration in return for, or to induce, (1) the referral of a person covered by Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental programs, (2) the furnishing or arranging for the furnishing of items or services reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental programs or (3) the purchasing, leasing or ordering or arranging or recommending purchasing, leasing or ordering of any item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental programs. Certain federal courts have held that the Anti-Kickback Statute can be violated if "one purpose" of a payment is to induce referrals. Last year, as part of PPACA, Congress passed legislation making it easier for the government to prove that a defendant had the requisite state of mind or "scienter" required for a violation. Violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute can result in exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other

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governmental programs as well as civil and criminal penalties, including fines of up to $50,000 per violation and three times the amount of the unlawful remuneration. Imposition of any of these remedies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition to a few statutory exceptions, the OIG has published safe harbor regulations that outline categories of activities that are deemed protected from prosecution under the Anti-Kickback Statute provided all applicable criteria are met. The failure of a financial relationship to meet all of the applicable safe harbor criteria does not necessarily mean that the particular arrangement violates the Anti-Kickback Statute. In order to obtain additional clarification on arrangements that may not be subject to a statutory exception or may not satisfy the criteria of a safe harbor, Congress established a process under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 in which parties can seek an advisory opinion from the OIG.

        We and others in the healthcare community have taken advantage of the advisory opinion process, and a number of advisory opinions have addressed issues that pertain to our various operations, such as discounted ambulance services being provided to skilled nursing facilities, patient co-payment responsibilities, compensation methodologies under a management services arrangement, and ambulance restocking arrangements. In a number of these advisory opinions the government concluded that such arrangements could be problematic if the requisite intent were present. Although advisory opinions are binding only on HHS and the requesting party or parties, when new advisory opinions are issued, regardless of the requestor, we review them and their application to our operations as part of our ongoing corporate compliance program and endeavor to make appropriate changes where we perceive the need to do so. See "—Corporate Compliance Program and Corporate Integrity Obligations."

        Health facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes refer two categories of ambulance transports to us and other ambulance companies: (1) transports for which the facility must pay the ambulance company, and (2) transports which the ambulance company can bill directly to Medicare or other public or private payors. In Advisory Opinion 99-2, which we requested, the OIG addressed the issue of whether substantial contractual discounts provided to nursing homes on the transports for which the nursing homes are financially responsible may violate the Anti-Kickback Statute when the ambulance company also receives referrals of Medicare and other government-funded transports. The OIG opined that such discounts implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute if even one purpose of the discounts is to induce the referral of the transports paid for by Medicare and other federal programs. The OIG further indicated that a violation may exist even if there is no contractual obligation on the part of the facility to refer federally funded patients, and even if similar discounts are provided by other ambulance companies in the same marketplace. Following our receipt of this Advisory Opinion in March of 1999, we took steps to bring our contracts with health facilities into compliance with the OIG's views. In 2006, we entered into a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and a Corporate Integrity Agreement, or CIA, to settle allegations that certain of our hospital and nursing home contracts in effect in Texas in periods prior to 2002 contained discounts in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. See Item 3, "Legal Proceedings".

        The OIG has also addressed potential violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (as well as other risk areas) in its Compliance Program Guidance for Ambulance Suppliers. In addition to discount arrangements with health facilities, the OIG notes that arrangements between local governmental agencies that control 911 patient referrals and ambulance companies which receive such referrals may violate the Anti-Kickback Statute if the ambulance companies provide inappropriate remuneration in exchange for such referrals. Although we believe we have structured our arrangements with local agencies in a manner which complies with the Anti-Kickback Statute, we cannot assure you that enforcement agencies will not find that some of those arrangements violate that statute.

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Fee-Splitting; Corporate Practice of Medicine

        EmCare employs or contracts with physicians or physician-owned professional corporations to deliver services to our hospital customers and their patients. We frequently enter into management services contracts with these physicians and professional corporations pursuant to which we provide them with billing, scheduling and a wide range of other services, and they pay us for those services out of the fees they collect from patients and third-party payors. These activities are subject to various state laws that prohibit the practice of medicine by corporations and are intended to prevent unlicensed persons from interfering with or influencing the physician's professional judgment and the sharing of professional services income with nonprofessional or business interests. Activities other than those directly related to the delivery of healthcare may be considered an element of the practice of medicine in many states. Under the corporate practice of medicine restrictions of certain states, decisions and activities such as scheduling, contracting, setting rates and the hiring and management of non-clinical personnel may implicate the restrictions on corporate practice of medicine. In such states, we maintain long-term management contracts with affiliated physician groups, which employ or contract with physicians to provide physician services. We believe that we are in material compliance with applicable state laws relating to the corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting. However, regulatory authorities or other parties, including our affiliated physicians, may assert that, despite these arrangements, we are engaged in the corporate practice of medicine or that our contractual arrangements with affiliated physician groups constitute unlawful fee-splitting. In this event, we could be subject to adverse judicial or administrative interpretations, to civil or criminal penalties, our contracts could be found legally invalid and unenforceable or we could be required to restructure our contractual arrangements with our affiliated physician groups.

Federal Stark Law

        We are also subject to a provision of the Social Security Act, commonly known as the "Stark Law." Where applicable, this law prohibits a physician from referring Medicare patients to an entity providing "designated health services" if the physician or a member of such physician's immediate family has a "financial relationship" with the entity, unless an exception applies. The penalties for violating the Stark Law include the denial of payment for services ordered in violation of the statute, mandatory refunds of any sums paid for such services, civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each violation and twice the dollar value of each such service and possible exclusion from future participation in the federally-funded healthcare programs. A person who engages in a scheme to circumvent the Stark Law's prohibitions may be fined up to $100,000 for each applicable arrangement or scheme. Although we believe that we have structured our agreements with physicians so as to not violate the Stark Law and related regulations, a determination of liability under the Stark Law could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Other Federal Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Laws

        We are also subject to other federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, there are two additional federal crimes that could have an impact on our business: "Healthcare Fraud" and "False Statements Relating to Healthcare Matters." The Healthcare Fraud statute prohibits knowingly and recklessly executing a scheme or artifice to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private payors. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment and/or exclusion from government-sponsored programs. The False Statements Relating to Healthcare Matters statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact by any trick, scheme or device or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines and/or imprisonment. This statute could be used by the government to assert criminal liability if a healthcare provider knowingly fails to refund an overpayment.

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        Another statute, commonly referred to as the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, imposes civil administrative sanctions for, among other violations, inappropriate billing of services to federally funded healthcare programs, inappropriately reducing hospital care lengths of stay for such patients, and employing or contracting with individuals or entities who are excluded from participation in federally funded healthcare programs.

        Although we intend and endeavor to conduct our business in compliance with all applicable fraud and abuse laws, we cannot assure you that our arrangements or business practices will not be subject to government scrutiny or be found to violate applicable fraud and abuse laws.

Administrative Simplification Provisions of HIPAA

        The Administrative Simplification Provisions of HIPAA required the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to adopt standards to protect the privacy and security of health-related information. All healthcare providers were required to be compliant with the new federal privacy requirements enacted by HHS no later than April 14, 2003. We believe we have taken reasonable measures to comply with these requirements.

        In addition to enacting the foregoing privacy requirements, HHS issued a final rule creating security requirements for healthcare providers and other covered entities on February 20, 2003. The final security rule required covered entities to meet specified standards by April 25, 2005. The security standards contained in the final rule do not require the use of specific technologies (e.g., no specific hardware or software is required), but instead require healthcare providers and other covered entities to comply with certain minimum security procedures in order to protect data integrity, confidentiality and availability. We believe we have taken reasonable steps to comply with these standards.

        HIPAA also required HHS to adopt national standards establishing electronic transaction standards that all healthcare providers must use when submitting or receiving certain healthcare transactions electronically. Although these standards were to become effective October 2002, Congress extended the compliance deadline until October 2003 for organizations, such as ours, that submitted a request for an extension. We believe we have taken reasonable steps to comply with these standards.

        The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or the HITECH Act, which was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, significantly expands the scope of the privacy and security requirements under HIPAA and increases penalties for violations. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation—Under amendments to federal privacy law made as part of the HITECH Act, we are subject to more stringent penalties in the event we improperly use or disclose protected health information regarding our patients."

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

        Some of our operations may be subject to compliance with certain provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and comparable statutes in many states. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a third party collection company is restricted in the methods it uses to contact consumer debtors and elicit payments with respect to placed accounts. Requirements under state collection agency statutes vary, with most requiring compliance similar to that required under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. We believe we are in substantial compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and comparable state statutes where applicable.

State Fraud and Abuse Provisions

        We are subject to state fraud and abuse statutes and regulations. Most of the states in which we operate have adopted a form of anti-kickback law, almost all of those states also have adopted self-referral laws and some have adopted separate false claims or insurance fraud provisions. The scope of these laws and the interpretations of them vary from state to state and are enforced by state courts

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and regulatory authorities, each with broad discretion. Generally, state laws cover all healthcare services and not just those covered under a federally-funded healthcare program. A determination of liability under such laws could result in fines and penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these jurisdictions.

        Although we intend and endeavor to conduct our business in compliance with all applicable fraud and abuse laws, we cannot assure you that our arrangements or business practices will not be subject to government scrutiny or be found to violate applicable fraud and abuse laws.

Licensing, Certification, Accreditation and Related Laws and Guidelines

        In certain jurisdictions, changes in our ownership structure require pre- or post-notification to governmental licensing and certification agencies. Relevant laws and regulations may also require reapplication and approval to maintain or renew our operating authorities or require formal application and approval to continue providing services under certain government contracts. For example, in connection with our acquisition of AMR from Laidlaw, two of our subsidiaries were required to apply for state and local ambulance operating authority in New York. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation—Changes in our ownership structure and operations require us to comply with numerous notification and reapplication requirements in order to maintain our licensure, certification or other authority to operate, and failure to do so, or an allegation that we have failed to do so, can result in payment delays, forfeiture of payment or civil and criminal penalties."

        We and our affiliated physicians are subject to various federal, state and local licensing and certification laws and regulations and accreditation standards and other laws, relating to, among other things, the adequacy of medical care, equipment, personnel and operating policies and procedures. We are also subject to periodic inspection by governmental and other authorities to assure continued compliance with the various standards necessary for licensing and accreditations. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in our services being found to be non reimbursable or prior payments being subject to recoupments, and can give rise to civil or criminal penalties. We have taken steps we believe were required to retain or obtain all requisite licensure and operating authorities. While we have made reasonable efforts to substantially comply with federal, state and local licensing and certification laws and regulations and standards as we interpret them, we cannot assure you that agencies that administer these programs will not find that we have failed to comply in some material respects.

        Because we perform services at hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities, we and our affiliated physicians may be subject to laws which are applicable to those entities. For example, our operations are impacted by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986, or EMTALA, which prohibits "patient dumping" by requiring hospitals and hospital emergency departments and others to assess and stabilize any patient presenting to the hospital's emergency department or urgent care center requesting care for an emergency medical condition, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. Many states in which we operate have similar state law provisions concerning patient dumping. Violations of EMTALA can result in civil penalties and exclusion of the offending physician from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

        In addition to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 and its state law equivalents, significant aspects of our operations are affected by state and federal statutes and regulations governing workplace health and safety, dispensing of controlled substances and the disposal of medical waste. Changes in ethical guidelines and operating standards of professional and trade associations and private accreditation commissions such as the American Medical Association and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations may also affect our operations. We believe our operations as currently conducted are in substantial compliance with these laws and guidelines.

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        EmCare's professional liability insurance program, under which insurance is provided for most of our affiliated medical professionals and professional and corporate entities, is reinsured through our wholly-owned subsidiary, EMCA. The activities associated with the business of insurance, and the companies involved in such activities, are closely regulated. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations can result in civil and criminal fines and penalties and loss of licensure.

        While we have made reasonable efforts to substantially comply with these laws and regulations, and utilize licensed insurance professionals where necessary or appropriate, we cannot assure you that we will not be found to have violated these laws and regulations in some material respects.

Antitrust Laws

        Antitrust laws such as the Sherman Act and state counterparts prohibit anticompetitive conduct by separate competitors, such as price fixing or the division of markets. Our physician contracts include contracts with individual physicians and with physicians organized as separate legal professional entities (e.g., professional medical corporations). Antitrust laws may deem each such physician/entity to be separate, both from EmCare and from each other and, accordingly, each such physician/practice is subject to antitrust laws that prohibit anti-competitive conduct between or among separate legal entities or individuals. Although we believe we have structured our physician contracts to substantially comply with these laws, we cannot assure you that antitrust regulatory agencies or a court would not find us to be non-compliant.

Corporate Compliance Program and Corporate Integrity Obligations

        We have developed a corporate compliance program in an effort to monitor compliance with federal and state laws and regulations applicable to healthcare entities, to ensure that we maintain high standards of conduct in the operation of our business and to implement policies and procedures so that employees act in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and Company policies. Our program also attempts to monitor compliance with our Corporate Compliance Plan, which details our standards for: (1) business ethics, (2) compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, and (3) business conduct. We have an Ethics and Compliance Department whose focus is to prevent, detect and mitigate regulatory risks. We attempt to accomplish this mission through:

•

providing guidance, education and proper controls based on the regulatory risks associated with our business model and strategic plan,



•

conducting internal audits and reviews to identify any improper practices that may be occurring,



•

resolving regulatory matters, and



•

enhancing the ethical culture and leadership of the organization.

        The OIG has issued a series of Compliance Program Guidance documents in which the OIG has set out the elements of an effective compliance program. We believe our compliance program has been structured appropriately in light of this guidance. The primary compliance program components recommended by the OIG, all of which we have attempted to implement, include:

•

formal policies and written procedures,



•

designation of a Compliance Officer,



•

education and training programs,



•

internal monitoring and reviews,



•

responding appropriately to detected misconduct,



•

open lines of communication, and



•

discipline and accountability.

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        Our corporate compliance program is based on the overall goal of promoting a culture that encourages employees to conduct activities with integrity, dignity and care for those we serve, and in compliance with all applicable laws and policies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we audit compliance with our compliance program on a sample basis. Although such an approach reflects a reasonable and accepted approach in the industry, we cannot assure you that our program will detect and rectify all compliance issues in all markets and for all time periods.

        As do other healthcare companies which operate effective compliance programs, from time to time we identify practices that may have resulted in Medicare or Medicaid overpayments or other regulatory issues. For example, we have previously identified situations in which we may have inadvertently utilized incorrect billing codes for some of the services we have billed to government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, or billed for services which may not meet medical necessity guidelines. In such cases, if appropriate, it is our practice to disclose the issue to the affected government programs and to refund any resulting overpayments. The government usually accepts such disclosures and repayments without taking further enforcement action, and we generally expect that to be the case with respect to our past and future disclosures and repayments. However, it is possible that such disclosures or repayments will result in allegations by the government that we have violated the False Claims Act or other laws, leading to investigations and possibly civil or criminal enforcement actions. A provision passed as part of last year's healthcare reform legislation requires that any overpayments be refunded within sixty days of discovery. Failure to refund overpayments on a timely basis could result in civil monetary penalties or provide a basis for a false claims act allegation.

        When the United States government settles a case involving allegations of billing misconduct with a healthcare provider, it typically requires the provider to enter into a corporate integrity agreement, or CIA, with the OIG for a set period of years. As a condition to settlement of government investigations, certain of our operations are subject to two separate CIAs with the OIG for the period July 2004 through September 2011. As part of these CIAs, AMR is required to establish and maintain a compliance program that includes the following elements: (1) a compliance officer and committee, (2) written standards including a code of conduct and policies and procedures, (3) general and specific training and education, (4) claims review by an independent review organization, (5) disclosure program for reporting of compliance issues or questions, (6) screening and removal processes for ineligible persons, (7) notification of government investigations or legal proceedings, (8) establishment of safeguards applicable to our contracting processes and (9) reporting of overpayments and other "reportable events."

        If we fail or if we are accused of failing to comply with the terms of our existing CIAs, we may be subject to additional litigation or other government actions, including being excluded from participating in the Medicare program and other federal healthcare programs. If we enter into any settlements with the U.S. government in the future we may be required to enter into additional CIAs.

        See Item 1A, "Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation" for additional information related to regulatory matters.

Additional Information

        We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, registration statements, proxy statements, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"). The SEC maintains an internet website, www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Copies of materials that we file with the SEC can also be obtained at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the SEC's Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

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        Our website address is www.emsc.net . Under the "Investor Relations" heading on our website we make available, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, registration statements, proxy statements, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after such forms are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC.

        Copies of our key corporate governance documents, code of ethics, and charters of our audit, compensation, compliance, and corporate governance and nominating committees are also available on our website www.emsc.net under the headings "Corporate Governance" and "Code of Business Conduct and Ethics."

        The website addresses for our business segments are www.amr.net and www.emcare.com .

        Information contained on these websites is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is not incorporated in this Report by reference.

ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS

        You should carefully consider the factors described below, in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report, when evaluating us and our business. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business operations. Any of the following risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Risk Factors Related to our Capital Structure

The interests of our controlling stockholders may conflict with interests of other stockholders.

        Onex Partners LP and other entities affiliated with Onex Corporation, which we refer to together as the Onex entities, own all of our outstanding LP exchangeable units, which are exchangeable at any time, at the option of the holder, for our class B common stock. Our class A common stock has one vote per share, while our class B common stock has ten votes per share (reducing to one vote per share under certain limited circumstances), on all matters to be voted on by our stockholders. Prior to the exchange for class B common stock, the holders of the LP exchangeable units will be able to exercise the same voting rights with respect to EMSC as they would have after the exchange through a share of class B special voting stock. As a result, the Onex entities control approximately 82% of our combined voting power. Accordingly, the Onex entities exercise a controlling influence over our business and affairs and have the power to determine all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including the election of directors, the removal of directors, and approval of significant corporate transactions such as amendments to our certificate of incorporation, mergers and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. The Onex entities could cause corporate actions to be taken even if the interests of these entities conflict with the interests of our other stockholders. This concentration of voting power could have the effect of deterring or preventing a change in control of EMSC that might otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders. Gerald W. Schwartz, the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Onex Corporation, owns shares representing a majority of the voting rights of the shares of Onex Corporation.

Onex has the voting power to elect our entire board of directors and to remove any director or our entire board without cause.

        Although our current board includes "independent directors", so long as the Onex entities control more than 50% of our combined voting power we are exempt from the NYSE rule that requires that a board be comprised of a majority of "independent directors". Onex may have a controlling influence over our board, as Onex has sufficient voting power to elect the entire board, and our certificate of incorporation permits stockholders to remove directors at any time with or without cause.

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As a holding company, our only material asset is our equity interest in EMS LP and our only source of revenue is distributions from EMS LP. Because the Onex entities have the voting power to control our board of directors, they could influence us, as the general partner of EMS LP, to take action at the level of EMS LP that would benefit the Onex entities and conflict with the interest of our class A stockholders.

        We are a holding company, and we have no material assets other than our direct ownership of a 69% equity interest in EMS LP. EMS LP is our only source of cash flow from operations. The Onex entities hold their equity interest in us through LP exchangeable units of EMS LP. As our controlling stockholder, Onex could limit distributions to us from EMS LP, and cause us to amend the EMS LP partnership agreement in a manner that would be beneficial to the Onex entities, as limited partners of EMS LP, and detrimental to our class A stockholders.

        Any decrease in our distributions from EMS LP would have a negative effect on our cash flow. In order to minimize this conflict, the EMS LP partnership agreement requires that the partnership reimburse us for all of our expenses, including all employee costs and the expenses we incur as a public company, and provides further that no distributions may be made to the Onex entities, as the holders of LP exchangeable units, unless we pay an economically equivalent dividend to all holders of our common stock.

        The EMS LP partnership agreement provides that amendments to that agreement may only be proposed and authorized by us, as the general partner. The Onex entities could seek to influence our board's action with respect to any amendment and we, as the general partner of EMS LP, owe a fiduciary duty to the limited partners of the partnership. Our board also owes a fiduciary duty to our common stockholders. Because of the inherent conflict of interest we face between our fiduciary duty to our stockholders, including our class A stockholders, and the Onex entities, as limited partners in EMS LP, the EMS LP partnership agreement provides that, if there is any conflict of interest of the limited partners and our common stockholders, our board may, in the exercise of its business judgment, cause us to act in the best interests of our stockholders.

We are party to a management agreement with an affiliate of Onex which permits us to increase substantially the fee we pay to that affiliate.

        The management agreement between our subsidiaries, AMR and EmCare, and an Onex affiliate provides that the annual fee may be increased from $1.0 million to $2.0 million. Such an increase would be detrimental to the interest of our class A stockholders if the fee were disproportionate to the benefit we derive from the services the Onex affiliate performs. In order to minimize this potential conflict of interest, the agreement requires that any increase in the fee be approved by a majority of the members of the boards of AMR and EmCare who are not affiliated with Onex. As long as the Onex entities control more than 50% of our combined voting power, they may be able to exercise a controlling influence over the election of the boards of AMR and EmCare.

Our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws contain provisions that could discourage another company from acquiring us and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

        Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace or remove our current board of directors. These provisions include:

•

providing for a classified board of directors with staggered terms,



•

providing for the class B special voting stock which will be voted as directed by the Onex entities,

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•

providing for multi-vote shares of common stock which, upon exchange of LP exchangeable units, will be owned by the Onex entities,



•

establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings, and



•

the authority of the board of directors to issue, without stockholder approval, up to 20 million shares of preferred stock with such terms as the board of directors may determine and an additional 54 million shares of common stock.

We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange rules and, as a result, qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

        Because the Onex entities own more than 50% of our combined voting power, we are deemed a "controlled company" under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE. As a result, we qualify for, and rely upon, the "controlled company" exception to the board of directors and committee composition requirements under the rules of the NYSE. Pursuant to this exception, we are exempt from rules that would otherwise require that our board of directors be comprised of a majority of "independent directors," and that our compensation committee and corporate governance and nominating committee be comprised solely of "independent directors" (as defined under the rules of the NYSE), so long as the Onex entities continue to own more than 50% of our combined voting power.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends.

        We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our class A common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of our current, as well as any future, financing agreements may preclude us from paying any dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our class A common stock will be your sole source of potential gain for the foreseeable future.

Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to operate our business.

        At December 31, 2010, we had total debt of $421 million, including $420 million of borrowings under the term loan portion of our senior secured credit facility and $1 million of capital lease obligations. We had no borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility and we had $75 million of letters of credit outstanding, of which $47 million impact our available credit under the revolving credit facility. In addition, subject to restrictions in the credit agreement governing our senior secured credit facility, we may incur additional debt.

        Our debt could have important consequences to you, including the following:

•

it may be difficult for us to satisfy our obligations, including debt service requirements under our outstanding debt,



•

our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements or other general corporate purposes may be impaired,



•

we must use a significant portion of our cash flow for payments on our debt, which will reduce the funds available to us for other purposes,



•

we are more vulnerable to economic downturns and adverse industry conditions and our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business or industry is more limited,



•

our ability to capitalize on business opportunities and to react to competitive pressures, as compared to our competitors, may be compromised due to our high level of debt, and



•

our ability to borrow additional funds or to refinance debt may be limited.

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        Furthermore, all of our debt under our senior secured credit facility bears interest at variable rates. If these rates were to increase significantly, our ability to borrow additional funds may be reduced and the risks related to our debt would intensify.

Servicing our debt will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate sufficient cash depends on numerous factors beyond our control, and we may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations.

        Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operating activities. The cash we require to meet contractual obligations in 2011, including our debt service, will total approximately $108 million. Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our debt and to fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. To some extent, this is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. Lower net revenues, or higher provision for uncollectible accounts, generally will reduce our cash flow.

        If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt and meet our other commitments, we may need to refinance all or a portion of our debt, sell material assets or operations or raise additional debt or equity capital. We cannot assure you that we could effect any of these actions on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that these actions would be sufficient to meet our capital requirements. In addition, the terms of our existing or future debt agreements may restrict us from effecting any of these alternatives.

Restrictive covenants in our senior secured credit facility may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies.

        Our senior secured credit facility limits our ability, among other things, to:

•

incur additional debt or issue certain preferred stock,



•

pay dividends or make distributions to our stockholders,



•

repurchase or redeem our capital,



•

make investments,



•

incur liens,



•

make capital expenditures,



•

enter into transactions with our stockholders and affiliates,



•

sell certain assets,



•

acquire the assets of, or merge or consolidate with, other companies, and



•

incur restrictions on the ability of our subsidiaries to make distributions or transfer assets to us.

        Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, and any material deviations from our forecasts could require us to seek waivers or amendments of covenants, alternative sources of financing or reductions in expenditures. We cannot assure you that such waivers, amendments or alternative financings could be obtained, or, if obtained, would be on terms acceptable to us.

        In addition, the credit agreement governing our senior secured credit facility requires us to meet certain financial ratios and restricts our ability to make capital expenditures or prepay certain other debt. We may not be able to maintain these ratios, and the restrictions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions or meet extraordinary capital needs or otherwise restrict corporate activities.

        If a breach of any covenant or restriction contained in our financing agreements results in an event of default, those lenders could discontinue lending, accelerate the related debt (which would accelerate

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other debt) and declare all borrowings outstanding thereunder to be due and payable. In addition, the lenders could terminate any commitments they had made to supply us with additional funds. In the event of an acceleration of our debt, we may not have or be able to obtain sufficient funds to make any accelerated debt payments.

Our obligations under our senior secured credit facility are secured by substantially all of our assets.

        Our obligations under our senior secured credit facility are secured by liens on substantially all of our assets, and the guarantees of our subsidiaries under our senior secured credit facility are secured by liens on substantially all of those subsidiaries' assets. If we become insolvent or are liquidated, or if payment under our senior secured credit facility or of other secured obligations is accelerated, the lenders under our senior secured credit facility or the obligees with respect to the other secured obligations will be entitled to exercise the remedies available to a secured lender under applicable law and the applicable agreements and instruments, including the right to foreclose on all of our assets.

Volatility and disruption of financial markets could affect access to credit.

        The current economic market environment has caused contraction in the availability of credit in the marketplace. This could potentially reduce our sources of liquidity. While there have not been changes to date regarding our ability to access credit under our revolving credit facility or additional borrowings under our senior secured facility, future volatility could have a negative impact on our financial position and performance which could put us in default of the credit conditions and impact our ability to access credit. Additionally, future volatility and financial market disruptions could impact the creditor's ability to honor the terms of our credit agreements.

Risk Factors Related to Our Business

We could be subject to lawsuits for which we are not fully reserved.

        In recent years, physicians, hospitals and other participants in the healthcare industry have become subject to an increasing number of lawsuits alleging medical malpractice and related legal theories such as negligent hiring, supervision and credentialing. Similarly, ambulance transport services may result in lawsuits concerning vehicle collisions and personal injuries, patient care incidents or mistreatment and employee job-related injuries. Some of these lawsuits may involve large claim amounts and substantial defense costs.

        EmCare procures professional liability insurance coverage for most of its affiliated medical professionals and professional and corporate entities. Beginning January 1, 2002, this insurance coverage has been provided by affiliates of CNA Insurance Company, which then reinsures the entire program, primarily through EmCare's wholly-owned subsidiary, EMCA. Workers compensation coverage for EmCare's employees and applicable affiliated medical professionals is provided under a similar structure for the period through August 31, 2007. From September 1, 2004 to the closing date of our acquisition of AMR and EmCare, AMR obtained insurance coverage for losses with respect to workers compensation, auto and general liability claims through Laidlaw's captive insurance program. In 2007, AMR transferred the Laidlaw insurance coverage to an insurance subsidiary of AIG and currently has a self-insurance program fronted by an unrelated third party for all of its insurance programs subsequent to September 1, 2001. AMR retains the risk of loss under this coverage. Under these insurance programs, we establish reserves, using actuarial estimates, for all losses covered under the policies. Moreover, in the normal course of our business, we are involved in lawsuits, claims, audits and investigations, including those arising out of our billing and marketing practices, employment disputes, contractual claims and other business disputes for which we may have no insurance coverage, and which are not subject to actuarial estimates. The outcome of these matters could have a material effect on our results of operations in the period when we identify the matter, and the ultimate outcome could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

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        Our liability to pay for EmCare's insurance program losses is collateralized by funds held through EMCA and, to the extent these losses exceed the collateral and assets of EMCA or the limits of our insurance policies, will have to be funded by us. Should our AMR losses with respect to such claims exceed the collateral held by AMR's insurance providers in connection with our self-insurance program or the limits of our insurance policies, we will have to fund such amounts. See Item 1, "Business—American Medical Response—Insurance" and "Business—EmCare—Insurance."

We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulatory regimes, including a variety of labor laws and regulations. Failure to comply with laws and regulations could subject us to, among other things, penalties and legal expenses which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

        We are subject to various federal, state, and local laws and regulations including, but not limited to ERISA, and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We are also subject to a variety of federal and state employment and labor laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Worker Adjustment and Restructuring Notification Act, or WARN Act, and other regulations related to working conditions, wage-hour pay, overtime pay, family leave, employee benefits, antidiscrimination, termination of employment, safety standards and other workplace regulations.

        Failure to properly adhere to these and other applicable laws and regulations could result in investigations, the imposition of penalties or adverse legal judgments by public or private plaintiffs, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Similarly, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by the cost of complying with newly-implemented laws and regulations.

        In addition, from time to time we have received, and expect to continue to receive, correspondence from former employees terminated by us who threaten to bring claims against us alleging that we have violated one or more labor and employment regulations. In certain instances former employees have brought claims against us and we expect that we will encounter similar actions against us in the future. An adverse outcome in any such litigation could require us to pay contractual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees and costs.

The reserves we establish with respect to our losses covered under our insurance programs are subject to inherent uncertainties.

        In connection with our insurance programs, we establish reserves for losses and related expenses, which represent estimates involving actuarial and statistical projections, at a given point in time, of our expectations of the ultimate resolution and administration costs of losses we have incurred in respect of our liability risks. Insurance reserves inherently are subject to uncertainty. Our reserves are based on historical claims, demographic factors, industry trends, severity and exposure factors and other actuarial assumptions calculated by an independent actuary firm. The independent actuary firm performs studies of projected ultimate losses on an annual basis and provides quarterly updates to those projections. We use these actuarial estimates to determine appropriate reserves. Our reserves could be significantly affected if current and future occurrences differ from historical claim trends and expectations. While we monitor claims closely when we estimate reserves, the complexity of the claims and the wide range of potential outcomes may hamper timely adjustments to the assumptions we use in these estimates. Actual losses and related expenses may deviate, individually and in the aggregate, from the reserve estimates reflected in our financial statements. If we determine that our estimated reserves are inadequate, we will be required to increase reserves at the time of the determination, which would result in a reduction in our net income in the period in which the deficiency is determined. See Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical

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Accounting Policies—Claims Liability and Professional Liability Reserves" and note 15 of the notes to our financial statements included in Item 8.

Insurance coverage for some of our losses may be inadequate and may be subject to the credit risk of commercial insurance companies.

        Some of our insurance coverage is through various third party insurers. To the extent we hold policies to cover certain groups of claims or rely on insurance coverage obtained by third parties to cover such claims, but either we or such third parties did not obtain sufficient insurance limits, did not buy an extended reporting period policy, where applicable, or the issuing insurance company is unable or unwilling to pay such claims, we may be responsible for those losses. Furthermore, for our losses that are insured or reinsured through commercial insurance companies, we are subject to the "credit risk" of those insurance companies. While we believe our commercial insurance company providers currently are creditworthy, there can be no assurance that such insurance companies will remain so in the future.

Volatility in market conditions could negatively impact insurance collateral balances and result in additional funding requirements.

        Our insurance collateral is comprised principally of government and investment grade securities and cash deposits with third parties. The volatility experienced in the market has not had a material impact to our financial position or performance. Future volatility could, however, negatively impact the insurance collateral balances and result in additional funding requirements.

We are subject to decreases in our revenue and profit margin under our fee-for-service contracts, where we bear the risk of changes in volume, payor mix and third party reimbursement rates.

        In our fee-for-service arrangements, which generated approximately 81% of our net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010, we, or our affiliated physicians, collect the fees for transports and physician services. Under these arrangements, we assume financial risks related to changes in the mix of insured and uninsured patients and patients covered by government-sponsored healthcare programs, third party reimbursement rates and transports and patient volume. In some cases our revenue decreases if our volume or reimbursement decreases, but our expenses may not decrease proportionately. See "—Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation—Changes in the rates or methods of third party reimbursements may adversely affect our revenue and operations." In addition, fee-for-service contracts have less favorable cash flow characteristics in the start-up phase than traditional flat-rate contracts due to longer collection periods.

        We collect a smaller portion of our fees for services rendered to uninsured patients than for services rendered to insured patients. Our credit risk related to services provided to uninsured individuals is exacerbated because the law requires communities to provide 911 emergency response services and hospital emergency departments to treat all patients presenting to the emergency department seeking care for an emergency medical condition regardless of their ability to pay. We also believe uninsured patients are more likely to seek care at hospital emergency departments because they frequently do not have a primary care physician with whom to consult.

We may not be able to successfully recruit and retain physicians and other healthcare professionals with the qualifications and attributes desired by us and our customers.

        Our ability to recruit and retain affiliated physicians and other healthcare professionals significantly affects our performance under our contracts. In the recent past, our customer hospitals have increasingly demanded a greater degree of specialized skills, training and experience in the healthcare professionals providing services under their contracts with us. This decreases the number of healthcare

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professionals who may be permitted to staff our contracts. Moreover, because of the scope of the geographic and demographic diversity of the hospitals and other facilities with which we contract, we must recruit healthcare professionals, and particularly physicians, to staff a broad spectrum of contracts. We have had difficulty in the past recruiting physicians to staff contracts in some regions of the country and at some less economically advantaged hospitals. Moreover, we compete with other entities to recruit and retain qualified physicians and other healthcare professionals to deliver clinical services. Our future success in retaining and winning new hospital contracts depends on our ability to recruit and retain healthcare professionals to maintain and expand our operations.

Our non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants involving physicians may not be enforceable.

        We have contracts with physicians and professional corporations in many states. Some of these contracts, as well as our contracts with hospitals, include provisions preventing these physicians and professional corporations from competing with us both during and after the term of our relationship with them. The law governing non-compete agreements and other forms of restrictive covenants varies from state to state. Some states are reluctant to strictly enforce non-compete agreements and restrictive covenants applicable to physicians. There can be no assurance that our non-compete agreements related to affiliated physicians and professional corporations will not be successfully challenged as unenforceable in certain states. In such event, we would be unable to prevent former affiliated physicians and professional corporations from competing with us, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our hospital contracts.

We are required to make capital expenditures for our ambulance services business in order to remain competitive.

        Our capital expenditure requirements primarily relate to maintaining and upgrading our vehicle fleet and medical equipment to serve our customers and remain competitive. The aging of our vehicle fleet requires us to make regular capital expenditures to maintain our current level of service. Our capital expenditures totaled $49 million, $45 million, and $32 million in the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively. In addition, changing competitive conditions or the emergence of any significant advances in medical technology could require us to invest significant capital in additional equipment or capacity in order to remain competitive. If we are unable to fund any such investment or otherwise fail to invest in new vehicles or medical equipment, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We depend on our senior management and may not be able to retain those employees or recruit additional qualified personnel.

        We depend on our senior management. The loss of services of any of the members of our senior management could adversely affect our business until a suitable replacement can be found. There may be a limited number of persons with the requisite skills to serve in these positions, and we cannot assure you that we would be able to identify or employ such qualified personnel on acceptable terms.

Our revenue would be adversely affected if we lose existing contracts.

        A significant portion of our growth historically has resulted from increases in the number of emergency and non-emergency transports, and the number of patient encounters and fees for services we provide under existing contracts, and the addition of new contracts. Substantially all of our net revenue in the year ended December 31, 2010 was generated under contracts, including exclusive contracts that accounted for approximately 86% of our 2010 net revenue. Our contracts with hospitals generally have terms of three years and the term of our contracts with communities to provide 911 services generally ranges from three to five years. Most of our contracts are terminable by either of the parties upon notice of as little as 30 days. Any of our contracts may not be renewed or, if renewed,

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may contain terms that are not as favorable to us as our current contracts. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in retaining our existing contracts or that any loss of contracts would not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, certain of our contracts will expire during each fiscal period, and we may be required to seek renewal of these contracts through a formal bidding process that often requires written responses to a Request for Proposal, or RFP. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in retaining such contracts or that we will retain them on terms that are as favorable as present terms.

We may not accurately assess the costs we will incur under new contracts.

        Our new contracts increasingly involve a competitive bidding process. When we obtain new contracts, we must accurately assess the costs we will incur in providing services in order to realize adequate profit margins and otherwise meet our financial and strategic objectives. Increasing pressures from healthcare payors to restrict or reduce reimbursement rates at a time when the costs of providing medical services continue to increase make assessing the costs associated with the pricing of new contracts, as well as maintenance of existing contracts, more difficult. In addition, integrating new contracts, particularly those in new geographic locations, could prove more costly, and could require more management time, than we anticipate. Our failure to accurately predict costs or to negotiate an adequate profit margin could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The high level of competition in our segments of the market for emergency medical services could adversely affect our contract and revenue base.

        AMR.     The market for providing ambulance transport services to municipalities, other healthcare providers and third party payors is highly competitive. In providing ambulance transport services, we compete with governmental entities, including cities and fire districts, hospitals, local and volunteer private providers, and with several large national and regional providers, such as Rural/Metro Corporation, Southwest Ambulance and Acadian Ambulance. In many communities, our most important competitors are the local fire departments, which in many cases have acted traditionally as the first response providers during emergencies, and have been able to expand their scope of services to include emergency ambulance transport and do not wish to give up their franchises to a private competitor.

        EmCare.     The market for providing outsourced physician staffing and related management services to hospitals and clinics is highly competitive. Such competition could adversely affect our ability to obtain new contracts, retain existing contracts and increase or maintain profit margins. We compete with both national and regional enterprises such as Team Health, Hospital Physician Partners, The Schumacher Group, California Emergency Physicians and National Emergency Services Healthcare Group, some of which may have greater financial and other resources available to them, greater access to physicians and/or greater access to potential customers. We also compete against local physician groups and self-operated facility-based physician services departments for satisfying staffing and scheduling needs.

Our business depends on numerous complex information systems, and any failure to successfully maintain these systems or implement new systems could materially harm our operations.

        We depend on complex, integrated information systems and standardized procedures for operational and financial information and our billing operations. We may not have the necessary resources to enhance existing information systems or implement new systems where necessary to handle our volume and changing needs. Furthermore, we may experience unanticipated delays, complications and expenses in implementing, integrating and operating our systems. Any interruptions in operations during periods of implementation would adversely affect our ability to properly allocate resources and

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process billing information in a timely manner, which could result in customer dissatisfaction and delayed cash flow. We also use the development and implementation of sophisticated and specialized technology to differentiate our services from our competitors and improve our profitability. The failure to successfully implement and maintain operational, financial and billing information systems could have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain new business, retain existing business and maintain or increase our profit margins.

If we fail to implement our business strategy, our financial performance and our growth could be materially and adversely affected.

        Our future financial performance and success are dependent in large part upon our ability to implement our business strategy successfully. Our business strategy envisions several initiatives, including increasing revenue from existing customers, growing our customer base, expanding our existing service lines, pursuing select acquisitions, implementing cost rationalization initiatives, focusing on risk mitigation and utilizing technology to differentiate our services and improve profitability. We may not be able to implement our business strategy successfully or achieve the anticipated benefits of our business plan. If we are unable to do so, our long-term growth and profitability may be adversely affected. Even if we are able to implement some or all of the initiatives of our business plan successfully, our operating results may not improve to the extent we anticipate, or at all.

        Implementation of our business strategy could also be affected by a number of factors beyond our control, such as increased competition, legal developments, government regulation, general economic conditions or increased operating costs or expenses. In addition, to the extent we have misjudged the nature and extent of industry trends or our competition, we may have difficulty in achieving our strategic objectives. Any failure to implement our business strategy successfully may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and thus our ability to service our debt. In addition, we may decide to alter or discontinue certain aspects of our business strategy at any time.

A successful challenge by tax authorities to our treatment of certain physicians as independent contractors and to our tax elections could require us to pay past taxes and penalties.

        As of December 31, 2010, we contracted with approximately 3,460 physicians as independent contractors to fulfill our contractual obligations to customers. Because we treat them as independent contractors rather than as employees, we do not (i) withhold federal or state income or other employment related taxes from the compensation that we pay to them, (ii) make federal or state unemployment tax or Federal Insurance Contributions Act payments (except as described below), (iii) provide workers compensation insurance with respect to such affiliated physicians (except in states that require us to do so even for independent contractors), or (iv) allow them to participate in benefits and retirement programs available to employed physicians. Our contracts with our independent contractor physicians obligate these physicians to pay these taxes and other costs. Whether these physicians are properly classified as independent contractors depends upon the facts and circumstances of our relationship with them. It is possible that the nature of our relationship with these physicians would support a challenge to our classification of them. If such a challenge by federal or state taxing authorities were successful, and the physicians at issue were instead treated as employees, we could be adversely affected and liable for past taxes and penalties to the extent that the physicians did not fulfill their contractual obligations to pay those taxes. Under current federal tax law, however, even if our treatment were successfully challenged, if our current treatment were found to be consistent with a long-standing practice of a significant segment of our industry and we meet certain other requirements, it is possible, but not certain, that our treatment of the physicians would qualify under a "safe harbor" and, consequently, we would be protected from the imposition of past taxes and penalties. In the recent past, however, there have been proposals to eliminate the safe harbor and similar proposals could be made in the future.

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        We have made certain elections for income tax purposes and recorded related tax deductions that while we feel are probable of being upheld, may be challenged by the taxing authorities.

We may make acquisitions which could divert the attention of management and which may not be integrated successfully into our existing business.

        We may pursue acquisitions to increase our market penetration, enter new geographic markets and expand the scope of services we provide. We cannot assure you that we will identify suitable acquisition candidates, that acquisitions will be completed on acceptable terms, that our due diligence process will uncover all potential liabilities or issues affecting our integration process, or that we will be able to integrate successfully the operations of any acquired business into our existing business. Furthermore, acquisitions into new geographic markets and services may require us to comply with new and unfamiliar legal and regulatory requirements, which could impose substantial obligations on us and our management, cause us to expend additional time and resources, and increase our exposure to penalties or fines for non-compliance with such requirements. The acquisitions could be of significant size and involve operations in multiple jurisdictions. The acquisition and integration of another business would divert management attention from other business activities. This diversion, together with other difficulties we may incur in integrating an acquired business, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may borrow money or issue capital stock to finance acquisitions. Such borrowings might not be available on terms as favorable to us as our current borrowing terms and may increase our leverage, and the issuance of capital stock could dilute the interests of our stockholders.

If Laidlaw is unwilling or unable to satisfy any indemnification claims made by us pursuant to the purchase agreements relating to the acquisition of AMR and EmCare, we will be forced to satisfy such claims ourselves.

        Laidlaw has agreed to indemnify us for certain claims or legal actions brought against us arising out of the operations of AMR and EmCare prior to the closing date of the acquisition. If we make a claim against Laidlaw, and Laidlaw is unwilling or unable to satisfy such claim, we would be required to satisfy the claim ourselves and, as a result, our financial condition may be adversely affected.

Many of our employees are represented by labor unions and any work stoppage could adversely affect our business.

        Approximately 45% of AMR's employees are represented by 39 collective bargaining agreements. A total of 18 collective bargaining agreements, representing approximately 4,800 employees, are subject to renegotiation in 2011. Although we believe our relations with our employees are good, we cannot assure you that we will be able to negotiate a satisfactory renewal of these collective bargaining agreements or that our employee relations will remain stable.

Our consolidated revenue and earnings could vary significantly from period to period due to our national contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

        Our revenue and earnings under our national contract with FEMA are likely to vary significantly from period to period. In the first four years of the FEMA contract, our annual revenues from services rendered under this contract have varied by approximately $107 million. In its present form, the contract generates revenue for us only in the event of a national emergency and then only if FEMA exercises its broad discretion to order a deployment. Our FEMA revenue therefore depends largely on circumstances outside of our control. We therefore cannot predict the revenue and earnings, if any, we may generate in any given period from our FEMA contract. This may lead to increased volatility in our actual revenue and earnings period to period.

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We may be required to enter into large scale deployment of resources in response to a national emergency under our contract with FEMA, which may divert management attention and resources.

        We do not believe that a FEMA deployment adversely affects our ability to service our local 911 contracts. However, any significant FEMA deployment requires significant management attention and could reduce our ability to pursue other local transport opportunities, such as inter-facility transports, and to pursue new business opportunities, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation

We conduct business in a heavily regulated industry and if we fail to comply with these laws and government regulations, we could incur penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations.

        The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and closely scrutinized by federal, state and local governments. Comprehensive statutes and regulations govern the manner in which we provide and bill for services, our contractual relationships with our physicians, vendors and customers, our marketing activities and other aspects of our operations. Failure to comply with these laws can result in civil and criminal penalties such as fines, damages and exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The risk of our being found in violation of these laws and regulations is increased by the fact that many of them have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are sometimes open to a variety of interpretations. Any action against us for violation of these laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management's attention from the operation of our business.

        Our practitioners and our customers are also subject to ethical guidelines and operating standards of professional and trade associations and private accreditation agencies. Compliance with these guidelines and standards is often required by our contracts with our customers or to maintain our reputation.

        The laws, regulations and standards governing the provision of healthcare services may change significantly in the future. We cannot assure you that any new or changed healthcare laws, regulations or standards will not materially adversely affect our business. We cannot assure you that a review of our business by judicial, law enforcement, regulatory or accreditation authorities will not result in a determination that could adversely affect our operations.

We are subject to comprehensive and complex laws and rules that govern the manner in which we bill and are paid for our services by third party payors, and the failure to comply with these rules, or allegations that we have failed to do so, can result in civil or criminal sanctions, including exclusion from federal and state healthcare programs.

        Like most healthcare providers, the majority of our services are paid for by private and governmental third party payors, such as Medicare and Medicaid. These third party payors typically have differing and complex billing and documentation requirements that we must meet in order to receive payment for our services. Reimbursement to us is typically conditioned on our providing the correct procedure and diagnostic codes and properly documenting the services themselves, including the level of service provided, the medical necessity for the services, the site of service and the identity of the practitioner who provided the service.

        We must also comply with numerous other laws applicable to our documentation and the claims we submit for payment, including but not limited to (1) "coordination of benefits" rules that dictate which payor we must bill first when a patient has potential coverage from multiple payors; (2) requirements that we obtain the signature of the patient or patient representative, or, in certain cases, the documentation, prior to submitting a claim; (3) requirements that we make repayment to any

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payor which pays us more than the amount to which we are entitled; (4) requirements that we bill a hospital or nursing home, rather than Medicare, for certain ambulance transports provided to Medicare patients of such facilities; (5) "reassignment" rules governing our ability to bill and collect professional fees on behalf of our physicians; (6) requirements that our electronic claims for payment be submitted using certain standardized transaction codes and formats; and (7) laws requiring us to handle all health and financial information of our patients in a manner that complies with specified security and privacy standards. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Medicare, Medicaid and Other Government Reimbursement Programs."

        Governmental and private third party payors and other enforcement agencies carefully audit and monitor our compliance with these and other applicable rules, and in some cases in the past have found that we were not in compliance. We have received in the past, and expect to receive in the future, repayment demands from third party payors based on allegations that our services were not medically necessary, were billed at an improper level, or otherwise violated applicable billing requirements. See Item 3, "Legal Proceedings." Our failure to comply with the billing and other rules applicable to us could result in non-payment for services rendered or refunds of amounts previously paid for such services. In addition, non-compliance with these rules may cause us to incur civil and criminal penalties, including fines, imprisonment and exclusion from government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, under a number of state and federal laws. These laws include the federal False Claims Act, the civil Monetary Penalties Law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, ARRA, and other provisions of federal, state and local law. The federal False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute were both recently amended in a manner which makes it easier for the government to demonstrate that a violation has occurred.

        In addition, from time to time we self-identify practices that may have resulted in Medicare or Medicaid overpayments or other regulatory issues. For example, we have previously identified situations in which we may have inadvertently utilized incorrect billing codes for some of the services we have billed to government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. In such cases, if appropriate, it is our practice to disclose the issue to the affected government programs and to refund any resulting overpayments. Although the government usually accepts such disclosures and repayments without taking further enforcement action, it is possible that such disclosures or repayments will result in allegations by the government that we have violated the False Claims Act or other laws, leading to investigations and possibly civil or criminal enforcement actions. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Corporate Compliance Program and Corporate Integrity Obligations."

        If our operations are found to be in violation of these or any of the other laws which govern our activities, any resulting penalties, damages, fines or other sanctions could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Federal False Claims Act" and "Business—Other Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Laws."

Under recently enacted amendments to federal privacy law, we are subject to more stringent penalties in the event we improperly use or disclose protected health information regarding our patients.

        The Administrative Simplification Provisions of HIPAA required the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to adopt standards to protect the privacy and security of certain health-related information. The HIPAA privacy regulations contain detailed requirements concerning the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information by "covered entities," which include AMR and EmCare.

        In addition to the privacy requirements, HIPAA covered entities must implement certain administrative, physical, and technical security standards to protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of certain electronic health information received, maintained, or transmitted. HIPAA also

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implemented the use of standard transaction code sets and standard identifiers that covered entities must use when submitting or receiving certain electronic healthcare transactions, including activities associated with the billing and collection of healthcare claims.

        The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or the HITECH Act, which was enacted as part of the ARRA, significantly expands the scope of the privacy and security requirements under HIPAA and increases penalties for violations. Prior to the HITECH Act, the focus of HIPAA enforcement was on resolution of alleged non-compliance through voluntary corrective action without fines or penalties in most cases. That focus changed under the HITECH Act, which now imposes mandatory penalties for violations of HIPAA that are due to "willful neglect." For violations due to willful neglect, penalties start at $10,000 and are not to exceed $250,000. For violations due to willful neglect that are not corrected, penalties start at $50,000 and are not to exceed $1.5 million. For violations based on reasonable cause, penalties start at $1,000 per violation and are not to exceed $100,000. For violations determined to be made without knowledge, penalties start at $100 per violation and are not to exceed $25,000. The HITECH Act specifically allows the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to continue to use corrective action without a penalty, but only in situations where the violation was made without knowledge. The HITECH Act also authorizes state attorneys general to file suit on behalf of their residents. Courts will be able to award damages, costs, and attorneys' fees related to violations of HIPAA in such cases.

        The HITECH Act and implementing regulations enacted by HHS further require that patients be notified of any unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of their unsecured protected health information, or Unsecured PHI, that compromises the privacy or security of such information, with some exceptions related to unintentional or inadvertent use or disclosure by employees or authorized individuals within the "same facility." The HITECH Act and implementing regulations specify that such notifications must be made "without unreasonable delay and in no case later than 60 calendar days after discovery of the breach." If a breach affects 500 patients or more, it must be reported immediately to HHS, which will post the name of the breaching entity on its public web site. Breaches affecting 500 patients or more in the same state or jurisdiction must be reported to the local media. If a breach involves fewer than 500 people, the covered entity must record it in a log and notify HHS at least annually. The security breach notification requirements apply not only to unauthorized disclosures of Unsecured PHI to outside third parties, but also to unauthorized internal access to such PHI. This means that unauthorized employee "snooping" into medical records could trigger the notification requirements. These security breach notification requirements became effective on September 23, 2009, but HHS has indicated it will not exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose sanctions for failure to provide notifications for breaches occurring prior to February 22, 2010.

        Many states in which we operate also have laws that protect the privacy and security of confidential, personal information. These laws may be similar to or even more protective than the federal provisions. Not only may some of these state laws impose fines and penalties upon violators, but some may afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. California's patient privacy laws, for example, provide for penalties of up to $250,000 and permit injured parties to sue for damages.

The recent healthcare reform legislation and other changes in the healthcare industry and in healthcare spending may adversely affect our revenue.

        Almost all of our revenue is either from the healthcare industry or could be affected by changes in healthcare spending and policy. The healthcare industry is subject to changing political, regulatory and other influences. On March 30, 2010, the President signed into law the PPACA, widely referred to as "the healthcare reform legislation," which will make major changes in how health care is delivered and reimbursed. To summarize, PPACA will likely increase the number of individuals who are privately insured, increase the number of individuals with Medicaid coverage, result in reimbursement policies

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that tie payment to quality, reduce certain payments under Medicare, facilitate the creation of "accountable care organizations" that may use capitation and other alternative payment methodologies, increase enforcement of fraud and abuse laws, and encourage the use of information technology. Many of these changes will not go into effect until future years and many require implementing regulations which have not yet been drafted. While it is too soon to accurately predict the impact of these and other health reform measures on our business, they could potentially have major impacts, both positive and negative.

If we are unable to timely enroll our providers in the Medicare program, our collections and revenue will be harmed.

        In the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, or MPFS, CMS substantially reduced the time within which providers can retrospectively bill Medicare for services provided by such providers from 27 months prior to the effective date of the enrollment to 30 days prior to the effective date of the enrollment. In addition, the new enrollment rules set forth in the 2009 MPFS also provide that the effective date of the enrollment will be the later of the date on which the enrollment was filed and approved by the Medicare contractor, or the date on which the provider began providing services. If we are unable to properly enroll physicians and midlevel providers within the 30 days after the provider begins providing services, we will be precluded from billing Medicare for any services which were provided to a Medicare beneficiary more than 30 days prior to the effective date of the enrollment. Such failure to timely enroll providers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If current or future laws or regulations force us to restructure our arrangements with physicians, professional corporations and hospitals, we may incur additional costs, lose contracts and suffer a reduction in net revenue under existing contracts, and we may need to refinance our debt or obtain debt holder consent.

        A number of laws bear on our contractual relationships with our physicians. There is a risk that state authorities in some jurisdictions may find that these contractual relationships violate laws prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting prohibitions. These laws prohibit the practice of medicine by general business corporations and are intended to prevent unlicensed persons or entities from interfering with or inappropriately influencing the physician's professional judgment. They may also prevent the sharing of professional services income with non-professional or business interests. From time to time, including recently, we have been involved in litigation in which private litigants have raised these issues. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Fee-Splitting; Corporate Practice of Medicine."

        Our physician contracts include contracts with individual physicians and with physicians organized as separate legal professional entities ( e.g.,  professional medical corporations). Antitrust laws may deem each such physician/entity to be separate, both from EmCare and from each other and, accordingly, each such physician/practice is subject to a wide range of laws that prohibit anti-competitive conduct between or among separate legal entities or individuals. A review or action by regulatory authorities or the courts could force us to terminate or modify our contractual relationships with physicians and affiliated medical groups or revise them in a manner that could be materially adverse to our business. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Antitrust Laws."

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        Various licensing and certification laws, regulations and standards apply to us, our affiliated physicians and our relationships with our affiliated physicians. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in our services being found to be non-reimbursable or prior payments being subject to recoupment, and can give rise to civil or criminal penalties. We are pursuing steps we believe we must take to retain or obtain all requisite licensure and operating authorities. While we have made reasonable efforts to substantially comply with federal, state and local licensing and certification laws and regulations and standards as we interpret them, we cannot assure you that agencies that administer these programs will not find that we have failed to comply in some material respects.

        EmCare's professional liability insurance program, under which insurance is provided for most of our affiliated medical professionals and professional and corporate entities, is reinsured through our wholly-owned subsidiary, EMCA. The activities associated with the business of insurance, and the companies involved in such activities, are closely regulated. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations can result in civil and criminal fines and penalties and loss of licensure. While we have made reasonable efforts to substantially comply with these laws and regulations, and utilize licensed insurance professionals where necessary or appropriate, we cannot assure you that we will not be found to have violated these laws and regulations in some material respects.

        Adverse judicial or administrative interpretations could result in a finding that we are not in compliance with one or more of these laws and rules that affect our relationships with our physicians.

        These laws and rules, and their interpretations, may also change in the future. Any adverse interpretations or changes could force us to restructure our relationships with physicians, professional corporations or our hospital customers, or to restructure our operations. This could cause our operating costs to increase significantly. A restructuring could also result in a loss of contracts or a reduction in revenue under existing contracts. Moreover, if we are required to modify our structure and organization to comply with these laws and rules, our financing agreements may prohibit such modifications and require us to obtain the consent of the holders of such debt or require the refinancing of such debt.

Our contracts with healthcare facilities and marketing practices are subject to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and we entered into a settlement in 2006 for alleged violations of that statute.

        We are subject to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of "remuneration" in return for, or to induce, the referral of business or ordering of services paid for by Medicare or other federal programs. "Remuneration" potentially includes discounts and in-kind goods or services, as well as cash. Certain federal courts have held that the Anti-Kickback Statute can be violated if "one purpose" of a payment is to induce referrals. Violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute can result in imprisonment, civil or criminal fines or exclusion from Medicare and other governmental programs.

        In 1999, the OIG issued an Advisory Opinion indicating that discounts provided to health facilities on the transports for which they are financially responsible potentially violate the Anti-Kickback Statute when the ambulance company also receives referrals of Medicare and other government-funded transports from the facility. The OIG has clarified that not all discounts violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, but that the statute may be violated if part of the purpose of the discount is to induce the referral of the transports paid for by Medicare or other federal programs, and the discount does not meet certain "safe harbor" conditions. In the Advisory Opinion and subsequent pronouncements, the OIG has provided guidance to ambulance companies to help them avoid unlawful discounts. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Federal Anti-Kickback Statute."

        Like other ambulance companies, we have provided discounts to our healthcare facility customers (nursing home and hospital) in certain circumstances. We have attempted to comply with applicable law when such discounts are provided. However, the government alleged that certain of our hospital and nursing home contracts in effect in Texas in periods prior to 2002 contained discounts in violation of

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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and in 2006 we entered into a settlement with the government regarding these allegations. The settlement included a CIA.

        There can be no assurance that other investigations or legal action related to our contracting practices will not be pursued against AMR in other jurisdictions or for different time frames. See Item 1, "Business—American Medical Response—Legal Matters." If we are found to have violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties, including exclusion from the Medicare or Medicaid programs, or may be required to enter into settlement agreements with the government to avoid such sanctions. Typically, such settlement agreements require substantial payments to the government in exchange for the government to release its claims, and may also require us to enter into a CIA. See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Corporate Compliance Program and Corporate Integrity Obligations."

        In addition to AMR's contracts with healthcare facilities, other marketing practices or transactions entered into by AMR and EmCare may implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Although we have attempted to structure our past and current marketing initiatives and business relationships to comply with the Anti-Kickback Statute, we cannot assure you that the OIG or other authorities will not find that our marketing practices and relationships violate the statute.

Changes in our ownership structure and operations require us to comply with numerous notification and reapplication requirements in order to maintain our licensure, certification or other authority to operate, and failure to do so, or an allegation that we have failed to do so, can result in payment delays, forfeiture of payment or civil and criminal penalties.

        We and our affiliated physicians are subject to various federal, state and local licensing and certification laws with which we must comply in order to maintain authorization to provide, or receive payment for, our services. For example, Medicare and Medicaid require that we complete and periodically update enrollment forms in order to obtain and maintain certification to participate in programs. Compliance with these requirements is complicated by the fact that they differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and in some cases are not uniformly applied or interpreted even within the same jurisdiction. Failure to comply with these requirements can lead not only to delays in payment and refund requests, but in extreme cases can give rise to civil or criminal penalties.

        In certain jurisdictions, changes in our ownership structure require pre- or post-notification to governmental licensing and certification agencies, or agencies with which we have contracts. Relevant laws in some jurisdictions may also require re-application or re-enrollment and approval to maintain or renew our licensure, certification, contracts or other operating authority. The change in corporate structure and ownership in connection with our initial public offering required us to give notice, re-enroll or make other applications for authority to continue operating in various jurisdictions or to continue receiving payment from their Medicaid or other payment programs.

        While we have made reasonable efforts to substantially comply with these requirements, we cannot assure you that the agencies that administer these programs or have awarded us contracts will not find that we have failed to comply in some material respects. A finding of non-compliance and any resulting payment delays, refund demands or other sanctions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If we fail to comply with the terms of our settlement agreements with the government, we could be subject to additional litigation or other governmental actions which could be harmful to our business.

        In the last five years, we have entered into one settlement agreement with the United States government. In September 2006, AMR entered into a settlement agreement to resolve allegations that AMR subsidiaries provided discounts to healthcare facilities in Texas in periods prior to 2002 in violation of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. See Item 3, "Legal Proceedings."

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        In connection with the September 2006 settlement for AMR, we entered into a CIA which requires us to maintain a compliance program which includes the training of employees and safeguards involving our contracting process nationwide (including tracking of contractual arrangements in Texas). See Item 1, "Business—Regulatory Matters—Corporate Compliance Program and Corporate Integrity Obligations."

        We cannot assure you that the CIAs or the compliance program we have initiated have prevented, or will prevent, any repetition of the conduct or allegations that were the subject of these settlement agreements, or that the government will not raise similar allegations in other jurisdictions or for other periods of time. If such allegations are raised, or if we fail to comply with the terms of the CIAs, we may be subject to fines and other contractual and regulatory remedies specified in the CIAs or by applicable laws, including exclusion from the Medicare program and other federal and state healthcare programs. Such actions could have a material adverse effect on the conduct of our business, our financial condition or our results of operations.

If we are unable to effectively adapt to changes in the healthcare industry, our business may be harmed.

        Political, economic and regulatory influences are subjecting the healthcare industry in the United States to fundamental change. Sweeping healthcare reform legislation was signed into law last year and is currently in the early implementation stages. See "—Risk Factors Related to Healthcare Regulation—The recent healthcare reform legislation and other changes in the healthcare industry and in healthcare spending may adversely affect our revenue." We anticipate that Congress and state legislatures may continue to review and assess alternative healthcare delivery and payment systems and may in the future propose and adopt legislation effecting fundamental changes in the healthcare delivery system.

        We cannot assure you as to the ultimate content, timing or effect of changes, nor is it possible at this time to estimate the impact of potential legislation. Further, it is possible that future legislation enacted by Congress or state legislatures could adversely affect our business or could change the operating environment of our customers. It is possible that changes to the Medicare or other government reimbursement programs may serve as precedent to similar changes in other payors' reimbursement policies in a manner adverse to us. Similarly, changes in private payor reimbursement programs could lead to adverse changes in Medicare and other government payor programs which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in the rates or methods of third party reimbursements may adversely affect our revenue and operations.

        We derive a majority of our revenue from direct billings to patients and third party payors such as Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurance companies. As a result, any changes in the rates or methods of reimbursement for the services we provide could have a significant adverse impact on our revenue and financial results. Healthcare reform legislation enacted last year by Congress could result in substantial changes in Medicare and Medicaid coverage and/or funding, as well as changes in coverage and/or amounts paid by private payors, which could have an adverse impact on our revenues from those sources.

        In addition to changes from healthcare reform legislation, government funding for healthcare programs is subject to statutory and regulatory changes, administrative rulings, interpretations of policy and determinations by intermediaries and governmental funding restrictions, all of which could materially impact program coverage and reimbursements for both ambulance and physician services. In recent years, Congress has consistently attempted to curb spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other programs funded in whole or part by the federal government. State and local governments have also attempted to curb spending on those programs for which they are wholly or partly responsible. This has

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resulted in cost containment measures such as the imposition of new fee schedules that have lowered reimbursement for some of our services and restricted the rate of increase for others, and new utilization controls that limit coverage of our services. For example, we estimate that the impact of a national fee schedule promulgated in 2002, as modified by subsequent legislation, resulted in an increase in AMR's net revenue of approximately $14 million in 2008, an increase in AMR's net revenue of approximately $24 million in 2009, and a decrease in AMR's net revenue of approximately $18 million in 2010. Based upon the current Medicare transport mix and barring further legislative action, we expect a potential decrease in AMR's net revenue of less than $1 million for 2011.

        In addition, state and local government regulations or administrative policies regulate ambulance rate structures in some jurisdictions in which we conduct transport services. We may be unable to receive ambulance service rate increases on a timely basis where rates are regulated, or to establish or maintain satisfactory rate structures where rates are not regulated.

        We believe that regulatory trends in cost containment will continue. We cannot assure you that we will be able to offset reduced operating margins through cost reductions, increased volume, the introduction of additional procedures or otherwise. In addition, we cannot assure you that federal, state and local governments will not impose reductions in the fee schedules or rate regulations applicable to our services in the future. Any such reductions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

ITEM 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

        Not applicable.

ITEM 2.    PROPERTIES

        We lease approximately 73,000 square feet in an office building at 6200 S. Syracuse Way, Greenwood Village, Colorado for the AMR and EMSC corporate headquarters and which also serves as one of AMR's billing offices. Our leases for our business segments are described below.

AMR

        Facilities.     In addition to the corporate headquarters, we also lease approximately 570 administrative facilities and other facilities used principally for ambulance basing, garaging and maintenance in those areas in which we provide ambulance services. We own 19 facilities used principally for administrative services and stationing for our ambulances. We believe our present facilities are sufficient to meet our current and projected needs, and that suitable space is readily available should our need for space increase. Our leases expire at various dates through 2025.

        Vehicle Fleet.     We own and operate approximately 4,300 vehicles. Of these, 78% are ambulances, 9% are wheelchair vans and 13% are support vehicles. Approximately 250 ambulances are part of our reserve fleet used to respond to FEMA deployments and during peak transport activity in several of our markets. We replace ambulances based upon age and usage, but generally every eight to ten years. The average age of our existing ambulance fleet is approximately 6 years. We primarily use in-house maintenance services to maintain our fleet. In those operations where our fleet is small and quality external maintenance services that agree to maintain our fleet in accordance with AMR standards are available, we utilize these maintenance services. We continue to explore ways to decrease our overall capital expenditures for vehicles, including major refurbishing and overhaul of our vehicles to extend their useful life.

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EmCare

        Facilities.     We lease approximately 49,000 square feet in an office building at 1717 Main Street, Dallas, Texas, for certain of EmCare's key support functions and regional operations. We also lease 27 facilities to house administrative, billing and other support functions for other regional operations. We believe our present facilities are sufficient to meet our current and projected needs, and that suitable space is readily available should our need for space increase. Our leases expire at various dates through 2019.

        We lease approximately 117,000 square feet in a business park located at 1000 River Road, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, for certain key billing and support functions. We believe our present facilities are sufficient to meet our current and projected needs, and that suitable space is readily available should our need for space increase. Our primary lease expires in 2019 with the right to renew for two additional terms of five years each.

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

        We are subject to litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business, including litigation principally relating to professional liability, auto accident and workers compensation claims. There can be no assurance that our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover all liabilities occurring out of such claims. In the opinion of management, we are not engaged in any legal proceedings that we expect will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of our operations other than as set forth below.

        From time to time, in the ordinary course of business and like others in the industry, we receive requests for information from government agencies in connection with their regulatory or investigational authority. Such requests can include subpoenas or demand letters for documents to assist the government in audits or investigations. We review such requests and notices and take appropriate action. We have been subject to certain requests for information and investigations in the past and could be subject to such requests for information and investigations in the future.

        We are subject to the Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse laws, which prohibit, among other things, any false claims, or any bribe, kickback, rebate or other remuneration, in cash or in kind, in return for the referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients. Violation of these prohibitions may result in civil and criminal penalties and exclusion from participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. We have implemented policies and procedures that management believes will assure that we are in substantial compliance with these laws, but we cannot assure you that the government or a court will not find that some of our business practices violate these laws.

        During the first quarter of fiscal 2004 we were advised by the United States Department of Justice, or DOJ, that it was investigating certain business practices at AMR including whether discounts in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute were provided by AMR in exchange for referrals involving Medicare eligible patients. Specifically, the government alleged that certain of our hospital and nursing home contracts in effect in Texas in periods prior to 2002 contained discounts in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. We negotiated a settlement with the government pursuant to which we paid $9 million and obtained a release from the U.S. Government of all claims related to such conduct alleged to have occurred in Texas in periods prior to 2002. In connection with the settlement, we entered into a CIA, which is effective for a period of five years beginning September 12, 2006. Pursuant to the CIA, we are required to maintain a compliance program which includes, among other elements, the appointment of a compliance officer and committee; training of employees nationwide; safeguards for our contracting processes nationwide, including tracking of contractual arrangements in Texas; review by an independent review organization and reporting of certain reportable events. Under the provisions of our purchase agreement for the acquisition of AMR, we and Laidlaw shared responsibility for the settlement amount and certain of the costs associated with the

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CIA. There can be no assurance that other investigations or legal action related to our contracting practices will not be pursued against AMR in other jurisdictions or for different time frames.

        On December 13, 2005, a lawsuit purporting to be a class action was commenced against AMR in Spokane, Washington, in Washington State Court, Spokane County. The complaint alleged that AMR billed patients and third party payors for transports it conducted between 1998 and 2005 at higher rates than contractually permitted. The court has certified a class in this case which is comprised of approximately 15,000 Spokane County residents. In September 2010, we reached an agreement with class representatives to resolve the claims for approximately $1.1 million, which amount includes all remaining refunds due to class members and attorneys' fees for the plaintiffs' counsel. The settlement was recently approved and finalized by the court.

        In December 2006, AMR received a subpoena from the DOJ. The subpoena requested copies of documents for the period from January 2000 through the present. The subpoena required us to produce a broad range of documents relating to the operations of certain AMR affiliates in New York. We produced documents responsive to the subpoena. The government has identified claims for reimbursement that the government believes lack support for the level billed, and invited us to respond to the identified areas of concern. We reviewed the information provided by the government, provided our response, and are currently in discussions with the DOJ and the OIG regarding resolution of this matter. During the year ended December 31, 2010, we recorded a $3.1 million reserve as an estimate of likely exposure in this matter.

        Four different lawsuits purporting to be class actions have been filed against AMR and certain subsidiaries in California alleging violations of California wage and hour laws. On April 16, 2008, Lori Bartoni commenced a suit in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Alameda, which has since been removed to the United States District Court, Northern District of California and later remanded back to state court; on July 8, 2008, Vaughn Banta filed suit in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles; and on January 22, 2009, Laura Karapetian filed suit in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. In addition, in the first quarter of 2010, Melanie Aguilar filed suit in the Superior Court of the State of California on substantially identical claims. The four cases have been joined together as "coordinated cases" and are all pending in state court in Alameda County, California, other than Bartoni, which is currently stayed due to interlocutory appeal. In the Bartoni case, the Company has filed a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to the applicable collective bargaining agreement. On November 5, 2010, the court denied the motion and the Company appealed. At the present time, courts have not certified classes in any of these cases. Plaintiffs allege principally that the AMR entities failed to pay daily overtime charges pursuant to California law, and failed to provide required meal breaks or pay premium compensation for missed meal breaks. Plaintiffs are seeking to certify the classes and are seeking lost wages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees and other sanctions permitted under California law for violations of wage hour laws. We are unable at this time to estimate the amount of potential damages, if any.

        We are involved in other litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. Management believes the outcome of these legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

PART II.

ITEM 5.    MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

        Shares of our class A common stock have been trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), under the symbol "EMS", since our initial public offering of such stock on December 16, 2005. There is no established market for our class B common stock or our LP exchangeable units. The

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following table details the high and low sales prices of our class A common stock during the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.

        On February 11, 2011, the last sale price of our class A common stock as reported by the NYSE was $70.66 and there were approximately 54 holders of record of our class A common stock, 2 holders of record of our class B common stock and 5 holders of record of our LP exchangeable units.

        We refer you to our Registration Statement filed on Form S-1 under the Securities Act of 1933 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 15, 2005 under the caption "Description of Capital Stock" for a further description of our capital stock.

Dividend Policy

        We currently intend to retain any future earnings to support our operations and to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the payment of dividends by us to holders of our common stock is limited by our senior secured credit facility. See Item 7, "Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." Our future dividend policy will depend on the requirements of financing agreements to which we may be a party. We did not pay dividends in 2010, 2009 or 2008 and do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements and contractual restrictions.

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Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

        We did not have any sales of unregistered securities during the three years ended December 31, 2010.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Summary of Equity Compensation Plans

        We adopted our equity option plan approved by security holders in 2005 in connection with the acquisition of AMR and EmCare. In 2007 we adopted our Long-Term Incentive Plan, which was approved by our stockholders in 2007, and we ceased to issue options under the previous equity option plan. The original 2007 Long-Term Incentive Plan was amended and restated in May 2008, and a Second Amended and Restated 2007 Long-Term Incentive Plan was approved by stockholders in May 2010. The compensation committee of our board of directors, or the board itself if there is no committee, administers the equity option plans.

        At December 31, 2010, 1,403,185 shares of our class A common stock may be issued upon the exercise of outstanding stock options at a weighted average price of $21.56, and 294,910 shares may vest pursuant to outstanding restricted stock grants. At December 31, 2010, 1,656,798 shares remain available under the Long-Term Incentive Plan for future grants.

Management Investment and Equity Purchase Plan

        In connection with our acquisition of AMR and EmCare, our named executive officers, other members of management and certain employees and affiliated physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners purchased shares of class A common stock pursuant to our equity purchase plan. Certain of these shares held by these investors, including our named executive officers, were governed by equityholder agreements. These agreements contained restrictions on transfer of the equity and expired on December 21, 2010, the fifth anniversary of the closing of our initial public offering.

Non-Employee Director Compensation Program

        Under the terms of our Non-Employee Director Compensation Program, in addition to an annual cash retainer of $67,000 ($75,000 for Michael Smith, Chairman of our Audit Committee), each continuing non-employee director (other than Robert M. Le Blanc, our Lead Director), effective immediately following each annual meeting of stockholders, will receive a grant of a number of restricted stock units, or RSUs, having a fair market value of $133,000, based on the closing price of our class A common stock on the business day immediately preceding the grant date. The RSUs will vest on the date of the following annual meeting of stockholders, immediately prior to the vote for

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directors, and will be paid in shares of our class A common stock (one share for each RSU). The number of RSUs granted to a non-employee director joining the board other than at an annual meeting of stockholders will be pro-rated based on the amount of time remaining until the next annual meeting of stockholders. This equity component of the non-employee director compensation program became effective as of June 1, 2006, and was approved by the stockholders at the 2007 annual meeting of stockholders. The number of RSUs issued and outstanding at December 31, 2010 was 90,340 and due to the nature of the plan, the number of shares remaining for future issuance is indeterminable.

        Generally, non-employee directors will forfeit their annual compensation (both the cash and the equity components) if they do not attend at least 75% of the meetings held in that year by the board of directors and the board committees on which they serve. The board of directors may waive this requirement if it determines that extenuating circumstances precluded such attendance. There will be no compensation paid to directors for attendance at individual meetings, for service on committees of the board of directors or for serving as Chair of any such committee.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan and Stock Purchase Plan

        Under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, 500,000 shares of class A common stock are authorized for purchase during specific offering periods. The Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors administers the ESPP, and has sole discretion in determining when offerings will be made and the terms of each, and to designate which subsidiary corporations of EMSC will be eligible to participate. It also has the authority to construe the ESPP and any purchase rights granted thereunder, and establish, amend and revoke rules and regulations for the administration of the ESPP.

        Under the Long-Term Incentive Plan, we may also offer and sell up to 500,000 shares of our class A common stock to employees of professional associations or professional corporations, for which we or our subsidiaries provide management services pursuant to a physician services agreement, as well as to independent contractors that provide clinical services for such professional associations or professional corporations, for us or for any of our subsidiaries. The purchase price associated with the class A common stock sold to such individuals will be determined from time to time pursuant to the Long-Term Incentive Plan by our Compensation Committee. We refer to this framework pursuant to the Long-Term Incentive Plan as the Stock Purchase Plan, or SPP.

        We offered our class A common stock to eligible employees and independent contractors associated with EMSC and our subsidiaries pursuant to the ESPP and SPP during 2010, 2009 and 2008. The purchases of stock under these plans occurred in October 2010, October 2009 and September 2008 at a 5% discount to the closing price of our class A common stock on predetermined dates established pursuant to the ESPP and SPP, and as such no compensation charge was recorded for these plans during 2010, 2009 or 2008. Employee contributions to these plans were used to purchase shares of class A common stock totaling 13,113, 8,644 and 20,627 during 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

Performance Graph

        The performance graph comparing cumulative total return among EMSC and certain indexes will be filed in EMSC's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2010, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2010; the performance graph is incorporated herein by reference.

Offer to Provide Form 10-K

        Stockholders may request a complimentary copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K by mail addressed to our Investor Relations Department at the following address: Emergency Medical Services Corporation, 6200 South Syracuse Way, Suite 200, Greenwood Village, CO 80111.

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ITEM 6.    SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

        The following table sets forth our selected financial data derived from our consolidated financial statements for each of the periods indicated. The selected financial data presented below should be read in conjunction with Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto appearing in Item 8 of this Report.

        Financial data for each of the periods indicated are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements.

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