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A major tragedy struck the EMS world this week when two medical helicopters collided Sunday as they approached the same hospital in northern Arizona, leaving six people dead and critically injuring a nurse.

In addition, an explosion after the crash injured two responders with a ground ambulance company. One of the helicopters was operated by Air Methods from Englewood, Colo., and the other was from Classic Helicopters of Woods Cross, Utah.

To read more visit Six Die as Medical Helicopters Collide and Arizona Crash Raises Questions about Medical Flights.

Also this week, a 52-year-old man was killed and four other people were injured in a collision involving a private ambulance and three other vehicles in California.

The fatal incident occurred Monday on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway near Burbank Boulevard. Officials said the man was in critical condition at the scene of the crash but died at a hospital. The ambulance crew was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Visit Man Killed, Others Injured in California Ambulance Crash.

Announcement: EMS EXPO and EMS Magazine Launch Photo Contest

We're looking for photos of EMS/rescue/fire professionals in the field, at training events or in the workplace. Your photos could be featured in advertising campaigns, marketing materials or EMS Magazine.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive one 3-day conference program and one travel and hotel voucher valued up to $1000* to attend EMS EXPO, Oct. 15-17, 2008, in Las Vegas!

In addition, ten finalists will be chosen to receive $511 gift certificates for 5.11 Tactical merchandise.

Follow the link for submission details.

Featured Column:

4th of July Spotlight: Military EMS Personnel

To celebrate this 4th of July, EMSResponder.com would like to recognize our country's military emergency medical services providers. In the first installment of what we hope will become on ongoing feature, we are highlighting individual providers: hospital corpsmen Benjamin and Emily Nunez, a married couple serving in Kuwait.

New Podcast:

A Master Disaster

Click to hear this story from Dr. David Jaslow, director of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, and Matthew Butler, Director of Operations for the Center for Special Operations Training. This "Open Airways" podcast is created by Fisdap and EMSResponder.com.