Hybrid Vehicles no image

Published on January 25th, 2009 | by Sasha Friedman

14

High Voltage Danger: Emergency Responders and Hybrid Cars

January 25th, 2009 by  
 

Emergency responders have known the dangers of gasoline for a long time: it is a toxic substance with explosive flammability.

Now,  hybrid vehicles are posing new challenges – they combine high voltage wires with tanks full of gasoline.

Traditional Response

When responding to accidents, turning cars off is a priority of emergency responders – a car that is off poses much less of a hazard than one that is on. Due to the nature of accidents — twisted metal, fire, smoke, etc. — this task can be exceedingly difficult, but emergency responders have demonstrated their expertise in dealing with these problems.

New Challenges

Now hybrid cars are further compounding the dangers of rescue by throwing high voltages into the mix. A crashed hybrid can be charged with 300 to 500 volts, an amount that poses a real danger to rescue workers. The danger of crossed wires means that just touching the car could get you shocked, not to mention cutting the car open or using the jaws of life.

Is it On?

Anyone who has been in a hybrid knows the eerie feeling when you pull up to a stop light and the engine turns off. The car is still on, but it is running solely on electricity. This silent mode of operation makes it difficult for emergency workers to tell if the car is off or just running on battery mode. Merely turning the ignition off is not enough – emergency workers have to disconnect the battery as well.

More Choices, More Questions

Emergency workers continue to get training on how to deal with various emergency situations. As alternative fuel technologies like hybrid electric, electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells progress, proper identification of the vehicle and fuel technology will become more and more important.

Image credit: wrhowell at Flickr under a Creative Commons license





Tags: , ,


About the Author

Sasha has recently decided that his life is too safe and moved from Portland to South Korea with his girlfriend. He's committed to the cause of alternative energy, especially alternative fuels, despite the fact that he is a committed bicyclist (and bike polo player). After getting a degree in Business Administration: Finance and Marketing from the University of Oregon, Sasha spent four years with SeQuential Biofuels, which gave him an intimate feel for the scale and challenge the world faces at replacing the dinosaurs of our time.


Related Posts



  • Great question. My car mechanic posed this to me several years ago. I would hope first responders have training with this in mind

  • Great question. My car mechanic posed this to me several years ago. I would hope first responders have training with this in mind

  • My 4wd mechanic, who calls me an “eco-Nazi” but I still love him, told me the same thing. He said they would not use the jaws of life on a hybrid (he also said he would never work on one if I bought one). He also thinks that melting polar ice caps will actually lower the ocean. He uses an analogy of ice melting in glass of water, so I’ve never given it much thought. I will have to ask my paramedic friend (who wants a Prius) if he has ever received training on this topic.

  • My 4wd mechanic, who calls me an “eco-Nazi” but I still love him, told me the same thing. He said they would not use the jaws of life on a hybrid (he also said he would never work on one if I bought one). He also thinks that melting polar ice caps will actually lower the ocean. He uses an analogy of ice melting in glass of water, so I’ve never given it much thought. I will have to ask my paramedic friend (who wants a Prius) if he has ever received training on this topic.

  • Bob

    Wow, interesting article and definitely an issue for 1st responders, as if they don’t have enough to worrying about already. Actually, Jennifer, the melting of the Arctic sea ice (North pole) will cause no change in sea level, since the ice is already in the water. Maybe that’s what your mechanic friend is trying to say. It is the shelf and continental ice from Greenland and Antartica that would raise sea levels. So all “melting polar ice caps” are not the same. I have to say, though, this winter has been very cold across the Artic and Greenland so that ice is getting a good winter of growing and thickening. Unfortunately, I don’t think the same can be said of Antartica where they are having an exceptionally hot summer and much melting. Whose to say what will be the final outcome…..?

  • Bob

    Wow, interesting article and definitely an issue for 1st responders, as if they don’t have enough to worrying about already. Actually, Jennifer, the melting of the Arctic sea ice (North pole) will cause no change in sea level, since the ice is already in the water. Maybe that’s what your mechanic friend is trying to say. It is the shelf and continental ice from Greenland and Antartica that would raise sea levels. So all “melting polar ice caps” are not the same. I have to say, though, this winter has been very cold across the Artic and Greenland so that ice is getting a good winter of growing and thickening. Unfortunately, I don’t think the same can be said of Antartica where they are having an exceptionally hot summer and much melting. Whose to say what will be the final outcome…..?

  • darwin

    Actually, the ice in Antarctica is growing. There is only one small part – a peninsula – that has any melting going on.

    I think the warmest spot on Earth right now is the Oval Office – Obama likes to keep it really warm in there, even though the time that Americans can drive big cars, eat whatever they want and keep there thermostats on 72 year round are over. At least that’s what he said during the campaign.

  • darwin

    Actually, the ice in Antarctica is growing. There is only one small part – a peninsula – that has any melting going on.

    I think the warmest spot on Earth right now is the Oval Office – Obama likes to keep it really warm in there, even though the time that Americans can drive big cars, eat whatever they want and keep there thermostats on 72 year round are over. At least that’s what he said during the campaign.

  • darwin

    I have a question that someone here can surely answer. I live in Indiana so air conditioning and a VERY good heater and defroster are necessities here. How does that work in hybrid or electric cars?

  • darwin

    I have a question that someone here can surely answer. I live in Indiana so air conditioning and a VERY good heater and defroster are necessities here. How does that work in hybrid or electric cars?

  • The A/C operates on electric power so that you stay nice and cool when stopped at a light. The coolant in the winter is still heated by the engine and if you sit at a light too long and coolant temp drops it can also start the gas engine to heat the coolant so you will always have heat. In regards to first responders the comapny I work for has created a Quick reference guide for the hybrid. http://www.hybridhazards.info

  • The A/C operates on electric power so that you stay nice and cool when stopped at a light. The coolant in the winter is still heated by the engine and if you sit at a light too long and coolant temp drops it can also start the gas engine to heat the coolant so you will always have heat. In regards to first responders the comapny I work for has created a Quick reference guide for the hybrid. http://www.hybridhazards.info

  • Ray McNamara

    I am currently selling a newly published Hybrid Emergency Shut Down/Jump Start Guide for use by Police, Fire, Towing and other emergency response personal – The guide has a step by step procedure with illustrations on the shut down/jump start of 30 hybrid vehicles – Any link to companies interested in distributing the guide would be appreciated

  • Ray McNamara

    I am currently selling a newly published Hybrid Emergency Shut Down/Jump Start Guide for use by Police, Fire, Towing and other emergency response personal – The guide has a step by step procedure with illustrations on the shut down/jump start of 30 hybrid vehicles – Any link to companies interested in distributing the guide would be appreciated

Back to Top ↑

© 2014   Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc.



Back to Top ↑