Hybrid Car Extrication........ Rescue Personnel

scott_vt · Jun 28, 2006

I was talking to a friend at work the other day and he was telling me about a story he read, about the dangers to rescue personnel, EMT's, firefighters performing extrication on electric vehicles !!!

I have been a volunteer fireman for almost 25 years and have performed many extrications on an assortment of vehicles. With fuel prices what they are today, the rules are changing as we speak. The main switch needs to be turned off to protect rescue personnel from electrocution!!!

This is kind of a heads up to the many people on this forum that may or may not realize the dangers of these vehicles. Watch out for those large orange cables. Any where fron 144v to over 500v.

Im including a link to an interesting site that has abundant info about these vehicles !

Hybrid vehicles http://www.squidoo.com/hybridcarhazards/

tglass · Jun 28, 2006

Glad to see this brung up. I've heard of this before and hope the small rural rescue depts. have got the word.

howlin_wolf · Jun 28, 2006

Hi fellas. Ex paid Haz-mat guy for 6 years and 7 year vol. fire/ems. I've been out of the action for several years now, but it's still an interesting topic to me none the less.

Has anyone taken vehicle rescue in the past few years? Mine was 10 years ago, long before hybrids. I looked at them last summer and the service guy said they were a pain to work on and not too mnay people were good with them yet. He also said there is a bunch of rules they follow when working on them. Cones around entire vehicle and they must have a 'shock pole' that is certified for the voltage on site incase one of the techs get grabbed by the batts.

GaryM · Jun 28, 2006

When the local Toyota dealer works on my Prius, it just sits in the bay next to all the other cars.

No cones or anything like that in sight.

scott_vt · Jun 29, 2006

Mornin Guys,
Thanks for the replies ! I took vehicle rescue a number of years ago but things are changing quickly. On the last course I took, the big topic was the hydraulic cylinders that aid in opening and closing the hatchbacks and their inherent dangers.

Anyways, I thought I would do a headsup on these electric vehicles, we are only going to see more of these vehicles on the roads in years to come !!!

fdny_hick · Jun 29, 2006

Hey Scott,
Thanks for the link. Its always a good idea to keep up on the hazards of the job. I've been on the job for almost 9 years now. I've not had special classes on Hybreds. This dept is one of the biggest in the world in one of the busiest cities in the world. We're behind the 8ball.
Mike

howlin_wolf · Jun 29, 2006

I believe it Gary. I got the impression the sales guy didn't really want to have to find the hybrid I wanted. He wanted me to go for a gas one on the lot, so they may have been just feeding me a load of crap. I've never actually seen one in the shop getting worked on, so I was going by what he said.

Scott - This is a good heads up for everyone, not just rescue. Think about the wrecks you've worked. I know for me at least, a bunch of times it was raining, or wet outside when they happened and Joe Blow, who saw the accident, was already trying to get in the car to help the person. Wouldn't want to even be touching the car in the rain if the battery was damaged and grounded out to the frame!

Good topic....thanks. =)

dmccarty · Jun 29, 2006

scott_vt said:
Mornin Guys,
Thanks for the replies ! I took vehicle rescue a number of years ago but things are changing quickly. On the last course I took, the big topic was the hydraulic cylinders that aid in opening and closing the hatchbacks and their inherent dangers.
/quote]

Ok Scott, how will the hydrulic cylinders get you? I had a set on my old car 20 years ago. Short of them failing when the hatch back was up and the glass falling on me I can't see how those cylinders could hurt me. So what can these things do?

Thanks,
Dan

BattalionChief · Jun 29, 2006

dmccarty said:
scott_vt said:

Mornin Guys,
Thanks for the replies ! I took vehicle rescue a number of years ago but things are changing quickly. On the last course I took, the big topic was the hydraulic cylinders that aid in opening and closing the hatchbacks and their inherent dangers.
/quote]

Ok Scott, how will the hydrulic cylinders get you? I had a set on my old car 20 years ago. Short of them failing when the hatch back was up and the glass falling on me I can't see how those cylinders could hurt me. So what can these things do?

Thanks,
Dan

Click to expand...

In car fires these gas/hydraulic cylinders can explode. They become projectiles which can blow through metal, flesh, etc.. it is not just a potential > IT HAS HAPPENED. Also, cutting through a cylinder with an extrication tool can be hazardous, though not as hazardous as an explosion from fire.

dmccarty · Jun 29, 2006

I'll be darned. Never even thought that could happen. The cylinders I had where really wimpy things and never thought of them as dangerous. A pain yes. Dangerous no.

Thanks for the info.

Later,
Dan