An FDIC Mistake???

[rmoore]

Here's an interesting "problem" that any officer in a fire/rescue organization could face. You send a member off to a seminar and he comes back with something that you know can't be true.

What do you do? Well, in this case, I hope you have the manufacturer's Emergency Response guides readily availabe so you can stop the bad 'rumor' before it infects your whole crew.

Actual question from a fire department officer along with my reply...

"Ron,

Had a guy come back to the firehouse after attending an extrication course during FDIC swearing the instructor told them to cut any orange cable on a hybrid vehicle to insure the power was disconnected to the vehicle. This contradicts anything I have ever read, seen, or heard. Please dispell this nasty rumor."

My Reply-

Your member attending FDIC did not hear the instructor say the word NOT. You should NOT cut the orange cables on a hybrid under any circumstances. They are the primary power lines for the high voltage electrical system. When the vehicle is running and the cables or connectors are energized, they could carry from 114v DC up to 500v DC.

Show him the ERG booklets available for all the hybrid vehicles that are out there to prove your point. Make sure he knows that the FDIC instructor said NOT to cut the orange and that he understands why this rule must be followed.

[GDDYUP]

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

NEVER cut the orange cable of any hybrid vehicle. Every manufacture has a specific cut procedure to de-energize the vehicle's electrical system. I'm familiar with Toyota's Prius hybrid only because I was a certified Toyota/Lexus tech before finally getting a full-time career position as a Firefighter. In the Prius, there is a specific relay on the right hand side of the engine by the firewall that needs to be unplugged,or an orange service plug needs to be removed from the rear hatchback area by the rear seat, or, the fues for the high-voltage system needs to be removed from the fuse panel. After one of these events has been done, the system can still be electrified for more than 5 minutes! You can begin to see where this would be a huge problem in an emergency scenario.

Even in any of the circumstances stated above, Toyota cannot guarantee that the system will be disabled! The Emergency Response Guidebook put together by Toyota must have 2 dozen warnings in it stating that even if the proper steps are followed while trying to de-energize the system, they will not guarantee that the system will be "down".

Be careful around hybrids!!!

P.S. Here's a link to the I-CAR website that has some info about hybrids. If you can though, write to the manufactures and have them sned your department their ERGs on any hybrid that they produce. Honda, Toyota, GM, and Ford are the major players out there right now who have actual hybrids on the road.

I-CAR info on Hybrids (http://www.i-car.com/html_pages/about_icar/current_events_news/advantage/advantage_online_archives/2003/063003.html)