**Exhibit 31.1**

 

**CERTIFICATION**

 

I, William A. Sanger,certify that:

 
| 1.     | I have reviewed this  Form 10-Q of Emergency Medical Services Corporation;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
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| 2.     | Based on my knowledge,  this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit  to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of  the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with  respect to the period covered by this report;                                                                                                              |
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| 3.     | Based on my knowledge,  the financial statements, and other financial information included in this  report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the  periods presented in this report;                                                                                                                                 |
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| 4.     | The registrant’s other  certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and  maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act  Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial  reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and  15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:                                                  |
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|   |   (a) Designed such disclosure controls and  procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed  under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the  registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by  others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this  report is being prepared;                              |
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|   |   (b) Designed such internal control over  financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting  to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance  regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of  financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted  accounting principles;                                     |
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|   |  (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the  registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report  our  conclusions about the  effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the  period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and                                                                                                                |
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|   |   (d) Disclosed in this report any change in  the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred  during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth  fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected,  or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal  control over financial reporting; and |
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| 5.     | The registrant’s other  certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent  evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s  auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or  persons performing the equivalent functions):                                                                                                  |
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|   |   (a) All significant deficiencies and  material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over  financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the  registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial  information; and                                                                                                                               |
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|   |   (b) Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in  the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

 
| Date: May 6, 2009          |   |
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|                            |   |
| /s/ William A. Sanger           |   |
| Name: William A. Sanger         |   |
| Title: Chief Executive  Officer |   |

 

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