Hybrid vehicles pose a new set of safety risks to EMS and Fire/Rescue personnel that is growing with the increasing numbers of the vehicles on the road, according to a recent government safety advisory.

Government warnings include:

• Remain a safe distance from the vehicle if it is on fire.
• Hybrids are powered by a combination of gasoline engines and high-voltage batteries, so the most important first step at an incident scene must be to verify that the vehicle is absolutely not under any power. Always assume the vehicle is powered up despite no engine noises.
• Because the cars are able to run without the gasoline motor, they can be in the "ready" position (running off electricity stored in the battery packs) with very little sound or vibration. Chock the wheels as soon as possible in case a car in the "sleep mode" has its gas pedal depressed inadvertently by a driver.
• Put vehicle in park, turn ignition off, depress power button, and remove key to disable the high-voltage system. Consider the electrical system unsafe for a full 5 minutes (called "drain time") after ignition shut-down.
• Depending on the type of collision, exterior hybrid labeling could be unrecognizably damaged or blocked by another vehicle. A reliable clue that a vehicle is a hybrid is its large battery pack, some of which weigh 80 or more pounds. Never touch, cut, or open any orange cable or components protected by orange sleeves.
• More hybrid vehicles are being mainstreamed to resemble traditional vehicles, making some models difficult to recognize. Ford Escape and Toyota Highlander hybrids, for example, have identical gas-powered counterparts, so checking for the "hybrid" label and looking for the orange cable sleeves under the hood, in the rear, or underneath the cars are important initial steps at vehicle incidents.

Auto Design and Extrication Forum, sponsored by State Farm Insurance, is a streaming webcast that covers response to incidents involving hybrid vehicles as well as safety pointers on such recent design features as roof airbags on 2005 and later model vehicles, and extensive coverage of airbags and restraint systems. It can be viewed at http://www.statefarm.com/sftv/sftv.htm.

Responder guidance for most domestic and foreign hybrids is available to download at http://www.extrication.com/ERG.htm, and each manufacturer of hybrids has responder-specific guidelines at its website.