(Buffalo, NY)   Rural/Metro Medical Services, in partnership with the AHCOPP program currently offered through Erie Community College, will announce plans to provide scholarships to five ECC students interested in a career in Emergency Medical Services, Saturday, December 11.

Rural/Metro has long recognized the tremendous people that live in Buffalo. "We want to make sure that no student who wants to become an EMTor a Paramedic is held back because of financial issues," said Rob Zachrich, General Manager of Rural/Metro. "These students will now be able to put all their efforts into their studies and not have to worry how they will pay for it."

Rural/Metro has teamed with ECC, which is working through a grant from the federal government to provide students with opportunities in the field of medicine. "Erie Community College is an outstanding educational institution and Rural/Metro is proud to have been asked to be a part of this wonderful program," said Zachrich.

The Allied Health Careers Opportunity Pipeline Program (AHCOPP) is a program to train disadvantaged students for a career as a Health Career Professional. The program currently reaches out to 90 students in the City of Buffalo.

Recruiter Brian Pitt from Rural/Metro Medical Services will conduct the presentation. The students will also have the opportunity to join four of Rural/Metro's lifesavers for a hands on experience in fully equipped ambulances.

"Once these students gain their EMT certification, we are hopeful they will join the more than 420 other lifesavers here at Rural/Metro," said Brian Pitt.

For more information, please call Steve Beauchamp, Public Affairs and Marketing Manager at (716) 882-8400, Ext. 323.

Rural/Metro, headquartered in Buffalo, New York, has satellite offices and ambulance bases in Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, and Niagara Falls as well as several other locations throughout Erie, Niagara and Orleans Counties. Their 550+ Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians and support personnel are responsible for servicing 22 hospitals and over 100 nursing homes and health care facilities as well as the one million residents that reside in Western New York.