The Bronco II rolled over and flew through the air before landing on the hood of an automobile.

Part 1 of the University of Extrication series on vehicle electrical systems, “Understanding Potential Vehicle Battery Locations,” was published in May 2000. Parts 2 and 3 followed in the June and July editions with details about the various alternate battery locations other than the engine compartment. Part 4 of the series now looks at a new resource for quickly and efficiently locating the battery on any given vehicle that has an airbag system.

The basic steps of electrical system shut down include:

• Turn the ignition key to the “off” position.
• Determine the location of the battery or remote terminal posts.
• Access the battery location or remote jumper cable terminal posts within the engine compartment.
• Shut down the electrical system at the battery or remote terminal posts.
• Confirm power shutdown.

The first action step in shutting down a damaged vehicle’s electrical system is for inside personnel to turn the vehicle’s ignition key to the “off” position. This action shuts off the engine if it is still running and begins to make the scene safer for emergency responders.

Firefighters assigned to electrical system shutdown at this crash had no problem accessing the engine compartment; with the hood off, it was totally exposed.

Next, the location of the battery or batteries should be determined. As reported in Parts 2 and 3 of this series, the most common location for a vehicle battery is under the hood. This is the location where responders will most likely find the battery and where the negative and then the positive cables can be cut or disconnected to complete electrical system shutdown.

In the case study being presented here, one vehicle became airborne and landed directly on the front hood of the four-door sedan. Crash damage included the hood being torn almost completely off the vehicle.

Firefighters assigned to electrical system shutdown at this crash had no problem accessing the engine compartment; it was totally exposed. The challenge was, however, that the battery wasn’t there. Only the negative and positive screw posts of the remote jumper cable terminals were present. The battery was missing. Where to go next was the challenge. Is the battery in the trunk? Is it under a seat? Possibly it is inside a front wheelwell; but if so, which one?

Departments now have a new resource to assist in determining exactly where the battery is on a particular vehicle. A book prepared exclusively for Holmatro Inc. by Mitchell International Inc. is one of two such products available to fire and rescue agencies today. It is the personal choice of this author for use at crash scenes when the information such as the battery location needs to be quickly determined.

The Holmatro book is titled “The Rescuer’s Guide to Vehicle Safety Systems,” first edition. As fire training manager for a busy city fire rescue agency, I use this book, along with its 2001 model year supplemental text, almost daily at vehicle crashes. When confronted with a situation where the battery is not under the hood, the Holmatro book is an invaluable tool. It guides responders directly to the battery location on every vehicle on the road today that is equipped with an airbag restraint system.

Determining the battery location using the guidebook requires that the make, model and year of manufacture of the vehicle are known. The make and model information is generally found on the rear lip of the trunk lid. In our case study incident, the logo on the trunk read “CHRYSLER CONCORDE Lxi.” The Holmatro book has a complete chart called the Emblem Identification Table showing the emblems of all vehicle manufacturers if the trunk logo is not available.

Firefighters noticed the remote jumper cable terminals and knew the battery was not under the hood, as is normally found. Note the terminal at top center of photo.

Once the make and model of the vehicle are established, determining the year of manufacture of the vehicle is next. This can be a bit more challenging. There are several quick methods of getting this information. If law enforcement officials are on scene, they can “run the plates” to get this information from the state motor vehicles department. If the driver’s front door opens, a label either on the edge of the door itself or on the base of the B-pillar will indicate year and even month of manufacture on a newer vehicle. In our case study, it was this B-pillar label that indicated the date of manufacturer as 3-99.

Another method of determining model year information is by use of the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN). This number can generally be found stamped into a small metal plate mounted on the top of the dashboard near the base of the driver’s A-pillar or printed on the door or B-pillar label.

The VIN Interpretation section of the Holmatro book guides you through the process of determining year of manufacture from this VIN. You are told that the 10th digit of a VIN indicates the year of manufacture for that vehicle. In our case, the 10th digit is the letter X. The Holmatro book confirms that this is a 1999 model-year passenger vehicle.

Armed with that information, we turn to the largest section of the Holmatro book, the Component Locations section. There, we find an alphabetical listing of all manufacturers along with an alphabetical listing of all their vehicles that have or ever had airbag systems in them.

Pages 2-57 and 2-58 of the book are where we find the information for the 1999 Chrysler Concorde LXi we are working on. The guide book’s charts and artwork shows us that the battery is shown in location “C’, inside the passenger’s front fender, ahead of the front tire. At that point, responders can work to directly access this battery to complete electrical system shutdown.

Using the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) label on the B-pillar, the Holmatro book indicates that the battery on the 1999 model Chrysler Concorde Lxi is inside the passenger front wheelwell.

In addition, because the Holmatro book is on scene, on page 2–58 responders also learn the location of all airbags in the vehicle (driver and passenger frontal airbags only), where the airbag control module is (on the center floorboard under the dash), where the crash sensors are (inside the control module box), and the fact that there are no seatbelt pretensioners present in this particular vehicle. The guidebook also cautions responders about the hydraulic pressurized struts used for the Concorde’s hood and trunk.

The advantage of utilizing a resource such as the Holmatro guidebook is that it takes less than 60 seconds for one person to gather battery location information. In that same 60 seconds, responders on scene are also provided with critical information about the vehicle that can impact the safety of responders and patients at the crash scene.

The 60-second process for using “The Rescuer’s Guide to Vehicle Safety Systems”:

Determine vehicle make and model.

• Use Emblem Identification section of book, if necessary.

Determine vehicle model year of manufacture.

• Use 10th digit of VIN and VIN Interpretation section of book, or,
• Use door label or B-pillar label information, or,
• Law enforcement assistance for state motor vehicles department information.

Check Component Location section of book to determine:

• Battery location.
• Airbag capacitor “drain time.”
• Airbag locations.
• Airbag control module location.
• Impact sensor locations.
• Seatbelt pretensioners.
• Unique safety concerns, i.e., struts in hood, trunk, hatchback, bumper.