By Debra Erdley
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Copyright 2007 Tribune Review Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Jay Ofsanik hasn't answered a rescue call involving a hybrid vehicle accident — yet.
But with more than 1 million of the gas-electric powered hybrids on American roads, he knows his day is coming. So Ofsanik, a lieutenant on the Uniontown Volunteer Fire Department Rescue squad, jumped at a chance to bring first responders together with experts from West Virginia University's National Alternative Fuels Consortium on Saturday for a pilot program featuring hands-on instruction in hybrid vehicle emergency procedures.
Program instructor Scott Martin said the consortium hopes to use Uniontown as a demonstration project to take the training program across the country.
Martin said his group wants to dispel myths surrounding hybrids and help emergency responders take steps to deal with the few genuine hazards involved.
"Because they have high voltage systems, there's the false impression that if a hybrid vehicle is under water and you approach them, you'll be shocked," Martin said.
First responders also worry they could be injured trying to extract drivers and passengers trapped in wrecked vehicles.
Martin said no one has been injured yet by a hybrid high-voltage system. But he said there are legitimate concerns about hybrid systems that can carry a charge up to 650 volts.
"There is the electrical shock hazard that is potentially there until you isolate the service disconnect. Then nothing is in the cables that runs throughout the vehicles," Martin said. "We created the course to train first responders how to do this efficiently so they're not sitting there trying to figure out whether it is safe."
"The manufacturers put in safety systems to isolate them in an accident, but in a severe accident you may have to know how to disable them.," Martin said.
The course teaches where electrical system disconnect switches are located and how to disable an exposed hybrid battery with a mixture of water and boric acid. It also provides a booklet that includes safety information from each hybrid manufacturer.
