Surfside Beach Fire Department employees got a refresher course Monday from Sparks Toyota representatives on how to handle hybrid vehicles in case they have to cut someone out of such a vehicle to save their life.
Parts and Service Director Brian Malcolm said the training is a useful tool so emergency responders can get familiar with the hybrid vehicles.
"They are very special; there is very high voltage in these vehicles because they are hybrid vehicles. We have not had instances here in Horry County or Georgetown County whatsoever with any instances where the responders had to do anything extraordinary to the car, but that time will arise soon I’m pretty sure," Malcolm said.
Surfside Beach fire inspector and education officer Gregg Faulkenberry said he’s aware of at least 282 hybrid vehicles in Horry County. Faulkenberry said hybrid’s can be dangerous because of the high voltage. He said a hybrid vehicle can have 300 to 500 volts of electricity, which can be more than twice the power of a household electrical system.
"So now all of the sudden you've got over that amount of voltage in a small car or an SUV and they need to know what to watch for, like the orange high voltage cables that are on these vehicles, what to cut, what not to cut, what to avoid and what are we going to do if it's on fire, seriously damaged or worse," Faulkenberry said.
Malcolm said Sparks Toyota has also conducted training courses on hybrids with emergency responders in Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, and Horry County.
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