That's unfortunate if these statements are true in your area. They aren't in mine.

There is no organization that mandates any specific content of vehicle extrication training, at least at the federal level or at the state level in my state. It's up to the agency to be proactive and responsible, stay current, and pursue training. If your agencies have chosen not to, it's their own fault. The information is out there.

As for whether DC is more harmful than AC, that's a subject of some debate. AC is generally regarded as more likely to trigger ventricular fibrillation (a lethal cardiac rhythm disturbance), and therefore more likely to cause an immediately lethal injury. (See this and this.)

 

Patrick.... I think you struck a nerve with this topic....

 

Ok, I wasnt trying to strike a nerve, I am just saying unless some national training standard comes up through NENA or APCO, or something similiar, heck this could give Homeland Security something to do....in any case, I just wanted to make sure some training program is in place to address this issue.

Apparently there are just a few PDF's out there which arnt bad, but in general there is no national electric vehicle guidlines.

On my email list serv with other agencies, I have posted this issue. So far no entity has responded that they do train for this issue.....this list goes out to about 1/2 of the agencies Indiana.

I figured when I asked this question that there would be some national training repository already established.

 

I've talked to a couple of emergency responders and they have information on hybrids and don't seem to be concerned. You have to remember these people already are in situations where they might be confronted with a crash into a 13,000 volt power line or an incident involving a tank full of acid.

 

Patrick, though there are no training mandates at the national level, there are training standards. The fire service generally looks to the National Fire Protection Association for its national standards.

NFPA 1006 addresses training for those involved in vehicle (and other forms of) rescue. 1006 is in the process of being updated, but the 2003 edition stipulates that certain job performance requirements, in particular knowledge and skill objectives, "shall be met prior to certification in vehicle and machinery rescue." One of these requirements:

"Isolate potentially harmful energy sources, given basic extrication tool kit and personal protective equipment, so that all hazards are identified, systems are managed, beneficial system use is evaluated, and hazards to rescue personnel and victims are minimized."

These standards are deliberately written broadly and updated infrequently, and are not usually designed to address the countless and rapidly changing specific hazards or technologies. Vehicle rescue trainers do address specific hazards in their curricula.

Some individual fire departments choose not to comply with NFPA standards for various and often unknown reasons. I suggest again that if responders' agencies haven't trained their people on hybrid technology after all these years, it's their own fault.

 

...and high voltage DC does mor burning of flesh and bone.

 

Another Emergency responder here,

We now include Hybrid vehicle awareness as part of our probationary training for new members in our Fire Department. It is also now standard practice in all extrication courses to include discussion into Hybrid vehicles. They are not rare anymore as they may have been a few years ago.

Frankly I agree with many of the other statements of members on the board that the Hybrid battery is in fact one of the last things I worry about on scene of an MVA. There are so many safeguards in place for the high voltage battery to disconnect with intertia switches and the like.

Members in any emergency response organization not wanting to complete training unless it it "mandatory" is quite sad. If a member does not want to be well educated for the world in which they respond in, maybe they, or someone else, needs to re-think why they are involved in the first place. Is it actually to serve the community, or is it to drive around with flashing lights and sirens?

 

There seems to be a lot of FUD going around about the "dangers" of hybrids, apparently coming from the "anti-hybrid" people needing reasons to dissuade us from buying them. I got into a discussion with some family-in-law over the holiday in Texas about this and they tried to tell me for a fact that they heard that some emergency personnel were killed when trying to extricate people from a hybrid after an accident. I never heard such a thing. After researching this for quite awhile it appears that said emergency responders are more fearful of airbags than hybrids.