Every… Second… Counts! When It Comes to Hybrid Safety
Background
There are currently about 3 million hybrid vehicles in the United States
(a 500% increase in the last ten years)
More than 1 million hybrid vehicles have been sold in the past 2 years.
Hybrids use both a gas powered and an electric powered motor, providing increased efficiency and decreased emissions.
The first published accounts of safety concerns involving Hybrid vehicles appeared in 2004.
The Future of Hybrid Vehicles
Hybrids represent 3.1% of all new car sales
2013 sales were up 14.1% from 2012
Ford nearly doubled its market share of Hybrid vehicles sales from 2012 to 2013
15.5 million vehicles of all types were sold in 2013
The Ford Escape Hybrid is 75% more fuel efficient than the standard model
Safety Concerns
Potential for electric shock
Modified extrication procedures
When an accident occurs, how do first responders quickly and easily identify that the vehicle is a hybrid or electric vehicle?
“Experts say hybrids pose no more danger than gasoline-powered vehicles — as long as rescue procedures are followed.”
“Our concerns are when we are cutting up the car. If we have to cut it, we get concerned about cutting the cables.”
“The training focused on safety and resure procedures for hybrid vehicles, which are powered by deep cell batteries and […] have enough electricity to kill a person”
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HYBRIDS EQUAL HIGH VOLTAGE!
As a rule, hybrids that have a full electric driving mode use higher voltage batteries than those that do not have a full electric mode. The battery pack in the Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid is rated at 144 volts. The 1st generation 2001-2003 Toyota Prius battery is rated at 273.6 volts while the 2nd generation 2004-2008 Prius is rated at 201.6 volts. The Ford Escape Hybrid has the most potent battery of all, rated at 330 volts! By comparison, the battery in the Saturn Vue hybrid is rated at 36 volts.
HYBRID ELECTROCUTION HAZARD?
The voltage in most hybrid batteries can deliver a lethal shock, much like that of an electric chair. What’s more, the voltage from a hybrid battery is Direct Current (DC), which carries more of a wallop than Alternating Current (AC). The threshold voltage where DC becomes dangerous can be as low as 55 to 60 volts, compared to 110 volts for AC. Ordinary 12 volt DC car batteries and electrical systems pose no danger, but the high voltage secondary ignition system can give you a nasty shock (though the current is usually too low to cause serious harm).
So are hybrids truly dangerous? Not if you treat them with respect, are aware of the potential shock hazard, and follow the recommended safety procedure when working on one of these vehicles.
Hybrid vehicles pose additional danger to rescuers
“Fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly cars known as hybrids are a hot commodity. However, they could be potentially dangerous to rescuers trying to free accident victims. Untrained emergency workers could cut electrical lines that may still be hot, causing electrocution.”
From CNN:
By Todd Sperry
December 28, 2012
Electric Car Crashes Could Pose New Risk For First Responders, Group Says
“Fuel-saving gas-electric hybrid and all-electric cars and trucks powered by sizable battery packs and high voltage motors could present a new kind of danger at serious accident scenes, according to an industry group.”
“A report by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) highlighted risks to first responders and tow operators from potential electric shock from damaged systems not disengaged during or immediately after a crash.”
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Batteries of hybrid and electric cars could present safety risk in crashes
Clear labels are recommended
(battery and power systems should be labeled to protect first responders)
More than 435,000 electric, hybrid vehicles sold in the United States in 2012, figures show
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What do others say?
“Rescue workers need to take extra precautions when dealing with hybrid vehicles.”
Bob Linster Vice President Hurst Centaur (Manufacturer of the Jaws of Life®)
“The 276-volt battery pack always has the potential for supplying you with a lethal charge.”
Craig Van Batenburg Diagnosticnews.com
Hybrid Identification
“Identifying the car involved in the accident as a hybrid vehicle (is) the first big problem.”
Jorg Heck Airbag & Co Germany/Austria
“…size-up of the scene must include efforts to view the entire rear of each crashed vehicle. This is the area of… hybrid vehicles that offers the only external indication that responders are dealing with a hybrid.”
Ron Moore Mckinney, Texas Fire Dept. Author of the *University of Extrication* lecture series
So how can emergency responders tell hybrid vehicles apart?
It’s difficult….
The “Only External Indication” that the vehicle is a hybrid
By contrast, here is what first responders may see upon arrival…
What an overturned vehicle can look like when first responders arrive on scene (this is the rear view of an overturned vehicle)
“When emergency personnel come on the scene, they sometimes can’t tell whether the vehicle is a two-door, a four-door, or a truck.”
Jeff Fortney Senior Technical Editor International Fire Service Training Association
This is the view that first responders often see upon arrival. Is this a hybrid? Would you be able to tell vehicle type? Especially at night?
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Picture this…
Imagine you’re a first responder who has just shown up on the scene of an accident.
Someone is trapped inside of the vehicle.
They are injured and bleeding.
Now you know, in this accident… the so-called *Golden Hour* (which determines a victim’s chances of survival) has begun…
(Tick, tock, tick, tock. You are racing to beat the clock. )
You think it might be a hybrid vehicle.
But you can’t be certain. The car was rear-ended and has been overturned.
(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)
There’s smoke starting to come from under the hood.
The person inside of the vehicle is yelling for help.
To extricate this person, you’re going to have to use the saw and jaws of life to get them out.
(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)
The smoke from the engine is starting to build.
If this is a hybrid, you know that touching the vehicle may result in you, the emergency responder, potentially electrocuting yourself.
(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)
Is this a hybrid vehicle?
To know the answer, you have to somehow figure out what type of vehicle this is.
Once you figure that out, you have to somehow find the right manual.
(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)
Next, you have to read the manual.
Then you have to find the right pages about safe handling, and very carefully follow the step by step instructions, etc. etc.
(Tick, tock, tick, tock…)
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Granted…
There are some solutions already in place to help first responders in this situation.
But those solutions all take time.
There’s NO TIME when it’s an emergency situation.
Every… Second…. Counts!
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Disconnecting the Batteries
To address safety concerns, extensive instructions are provided for each Hybrid vehicle model.
These are NOT easy instructions.
The instructions also differ greatly from model to model.
Here are some examples:
– Toyota Prius Battery Disconnect Procedure –
On 2004 Prius models or later, Toyota says to first disconnect the negative cable on the conventional 12-volt battery (which is also located in the trunk). Remove the trunk floor panel and cover, disconnect the 12-volt battery, then locate the service plug on the left side, and pull the handle down and out to remove the plug (wear insulated gloves when doing this). If you have to remove or replace the fuse, it is located right under the service plug and is held in place by two bolts. Again, wear insulated gloves. When the service plug is replaced, make sure the handle is returned to the upright position to lock the plug in place, otherwise a loose plug may set battery codes.
On a Honda Civic hybrid, the battery is disconnected by removing the rear seat back cushion, removing two screws from a small cover with the word “UP” on the cover, then flipping the power switch DOWN to the OFF position.
– Honda Civic Hybrid Battery Disconnect Switch –
– Ford Escape Hybrid Hybrid Battery Disconnect Procedure –
Put the shift lever into Park and remove the ignition key. This will turn off the hybrid system, but not totally isolate the hybrid battery in the back of the vehicle. To totally isolate the high voltage hybrid battery, open the tailgate, pull back the carpeting on the floor, and locate the round disconnect switch on the top of the hybrid battery. With rubber gloves on, turn the switch COUNTERCLOCKWISE, then lift out the switch plug to totally disconnect the battery.
Electrical Lines Running to Engine
Priorities in Hybrid Accidents
Safely extricate victim(s)
(so that they may receive proper medical treatment as soon as possible)
Maintain the safety of emergency personnel
What if there were a SIMPLE way to accomplish both of these goals simultaneously?
The Solution?
Identification of electric vehicles could be made so much easier and faster through coloring of airbags.
The best identification system for hybrids
In any crash situation where there are injuries and victims…
Every… Second… Counts!!!
Here’s a crash scene:
Here’s the same crash scene with an example of a colored airbag.
What a simple difference it would be for first responders, if the airbags in the vehicle were different colors.
This is such a simple solution, to a quite complex problem.
Save Time, Save Lives!
Who is helped by early identification of vehicle type?
The person IN the accident or witnesses
(Color is an easy identification method for nearly everyone. Victims get faster treatment whether or not the vehicle is a hybrid, since first responders know exactly what to do and not to do.)
911 Operators
(Can ask almost anyone on scene (regardless of training or background) what color the airbag is. The 911 operator can convey this to en route emergency personnel.)
The first responders on scene
(Can be more prepared en route, or at the moment they arrive on scene, with the proper extrication equipment.)
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To license this patent and help first responders save more lives, (or for any questions), please contact us.
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This website and colored airbags are protected under United States Patent #8,581,716.
Every… Second… Counts! conceptualization is also protected under intellectual copyright.
