First responders face vital challenges responding to crashes involving electrical autos, a NSW inquiry has heard.
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell advised NSW parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety inquiry into electrical and hybrid car batteries that whereas Fire and Rescue was “not opposed in any way” to electrical autos, it was essential to concentrate on potential dangers.
Mr Fewtrell, who additionally represented the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council on the April 30 listening to, stated it could be a “significant challenge” for rescuers and paramedics to get a casualty rapidly out of a broken electrical car after a crash and to additionally get themselves out safely.
“For all vehicle rescues, whether it’s an internal combustion engine vehicle or an electric vehicle, we have a firefighter staffing a line of hose in case there is a fire,” Mr Fewtrell stated.
“There is an inherent risk of ignition in any vehicle that has received significant damage through a road crash.
“Currently, though, for internal combustion engines, that firefighter will be able to have an immediate, significant impact on that fire to keep the casualty and the rescuers safe.”
But he stated rescuers confronted a problem when electrical autos had been concerned in a collision and the batteries subsequently ignited, as a result of depth of the ensuing hearth.
“The impact of the firefighter with that line of hose will not be as great,” he stated.
Mr Fewtrell stated as batteries ignited, it was doable the affected person rescue method might turn into “a very crude extrication technique of dragging the casualty out in a very undesirable manner”.
Mr Fewtrell additionally stated the configuration of the batteries in electrical autos would restrict rescuers’ scope to make use of their instruments to extricate somebody from a automobile in the way in which they ordinarily would.
“We’ll be restricted, potentially, in options, particularly for ramming and pushing parts of the car away from the casualties,” he stated.
“We will continue to adjust and refine our techniques and work with the manufacturers.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
