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Rural/Metro Corporation is an American for-profit emergency services organization, providing emergency medical transportation, non-emergency general medical transportation, fire protection services, and emergency-related training services to private and commercial enterprises. The company is the second-largest emergency services organization in the United States, operating in more than 400 communities across 21 states. Rural/Metro employs over 8,000 people and answers 1.5 million calls for service yearly. Rural/Metro also owns Southwest Ambulance of Arizona. Rural/Metro itself is owned by Warburg Pincus. In 2013, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after reaching a deal with its lenders to reduce its debt. The company is continuing operations during the bankruptcy reorganization. ==History== The company was founded by Lou Witzeman, a newspaper reporter, after he witnessed a house fire near his home just outside the city limits of Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. There was no fire department established for the area. Witzeman felt something had to be done, went and purchased a fire engine and proceeded to go door to door asking residents to subscribe to the new fire service by paying an annual membership fee (in lieu of taxes).〔 This was the origin of the Rural Fire Department, later renamed Rural/Metro Fire Department. In the 1980s, the company expanded into ambulance service. Rural/Metro began listing shares in 1993 on the NASDAQ exchange under the stock symbol RURL. Warburg Pincus acquired Rural/Metro in June 2011 for in cash and debt.〔 Rural/Metro was delisted from NASDAQ as part of the merger agreement. In 2013, the company "replaced senior management", including the chief executive officer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rural Metro」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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