I was a street paramedic in another life, and have many pleasant memories of crawling inside upside-down vehicles, to shield trapped passengers from flying glass, – as firemen cut their car apart.
Electric, Plug-in hybrid, smart grid, or not – some things don’t change.
From AutoBlogGreen:
Last week, General Motors announced that it would providing a series of special training sessions for emergency first responders later this year in preparation for the launch of the Chevrolet Volt. Firefighters and other personnel will be learning more about the Volt and its construction in order to understand what sort of safety hazards to look for as well how to extricate anyone trapped inside in the case of an accident.
Because the Volt is equipped with OnStar, the car will automatically notify emergency dispatchers in the event of a crash and provide vehicle information. This will help everyone be ready when they get to an accident site. Squeamish Volt fans might not want to watch the video… There’s no blood, but IVER prototypes do get cut apart. Shudder.
If you’re curious, there’s a powerpoint for first responders here:
Chevrolet VOLT – First Responder Training Tour