High bias rescue

Hybrid vehicles don't just have a 12-V battery, they have a 500-V battery. This packs a punch if your body completes the circuit to ground, as it would if you were, say, a rescue worker cutting open a Prius to save someone trapped inside.

Hale, the company that manufactures the "jaws of life" and other tools for rescuing people, has come out with new models in their Centaur line of products designed to be safe in high bias situations. Rescuers will not be injured cutting through the electrical cables.

"There is a real need for rescue workers to take extra precautions when dealing with hybrid vehicles," states Bob Linster, Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

The Cen SC14 Fi Combination tool and the Cen C9 Fi Cutter tool are safer for an object voltage of 1500 V DC or 1000 AC. All tool components coming in contact with the operator, such as handles, valves and actuators, are covered with non-conductive insulated materials. What's more, the insulation reacts to electrical exposure visually.

A friend-of-a-friend who is a paramedic had to go to a special training session recently in order to learn how to safely rescue people from hybrid vehicles. Although one could use this as another way to criticize hybrids, it could also be seen as beneficial to have more people trained in understanding how to handle high voltages.