MEXICO – Med-Care Ambulance of Mexico continues to win awards for its proactive approach to the delivery of rural emergency medical services within the 11 communities it serves.

At Saturday evening’s River Valley Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet in Rumford, chamber directors presented Med-Care with the 2007 Non-Profit/Community Service Leadership Award. The plaque reads that the ambulance service’s group effort has made a significant contribution in the enhancement and/or regional involvement in the area.

“Getting this award at the local level is equally important as at the national level,” Med-Care Director Dean Milligan said Wednesday afternoon at the service’s Main Street base. “We’re one of the only ambulances in the area providing community-based programs.”

Med-Care employs 62 people: 21 are paramedics, 14 are emergency medical technicians at the intermediate level, 21 are EMT-basic trained, and six are drivers. They serve Andover, Byron, Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Hanover, Mexico, Newry, Peru, Roxbury and Rumford.

Earlier this year, Med-Care was one of the first companies in Maine to receive the HeartSafe Community Award at the gold level. It means that its 11 towns were recognized for caring about the health and safety of their residents and visitors, Milligan said.

Med-Care also received the Risk Watch Safe Community Award from the National Fire Protection Association for the service’s efforts in community education and safety programs for children within SAD 21 and SAD 43 schools, and local organizations, groups and businesses.

In November, Med-Care was named Maine’s Emergency Medical Service of the Year by the Mid-Coast EMS Council.