[ausev] EMTs +

[tunafish at io.com]

Thank you, Aaron!!!  This is yet another reason I am impressed with this
group (see below)!

On Saturday when I was at work, I met Rick P_____(Peltz or Piltz??) who
is a "Washington whistle blower" that spoke on Saturday at the Roundup
in Fredericksburg.  I mentioned the electric cars & invited him to stop
by our booth.  He seemed excited about that.  Did anyone see him?  Wish
I could have been there Saturday & Sunday!

Claire - did you sell your car yet?  Sorry I missed it & you!!

Happy Electricity everyone!
Tanda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaron wrote:
I wanted to relate a brief conversation I had with an EMT at the
Roundup when I was there on Friday.  He was very supportive of what we
are doing and excited to see the examples of the member built EVs.

His concern?  "Where do you usually put the high voltage lines and how
can I tell where they are."

Why was he asking?  Because he is the guy that will be trying to cut
you out of your car if you are in a serious car crunching,
door-jamming accident.  They often have to cut through door jams,
frame rails and roof supports in order to get you out to reduce risk
of further injury.  They are aware of the new hybrids and EVs in
general and have received training on how to deal with the dangers
involved with the high voltages that we have in the cars.  However,
anything we can do to make it QUICKLY OBVIOUS where we have put our
high voltage wiring would be greatly appreciated on their part.  As an
example of making it difficult...  He told me that Toyota decided to
run its high voltage line in the frame rail on the driver's side.
There is a warning label on the door frame when the door is opened,
but... when they are in a rush and if the door won't open...

We don't have the volume that Toyota has and we can't provide training
to the EMTs to warn them away from any specific area of all of our
cars.  So, one easy thing is to go ahead and make sure you order the
bright orange cable to use as your high voltage cabling.  Try not to
run the cable in places that are likely to be cut when they are trying
to save you.  And try to make it OBVIOUS that a conduit holds high
voltage wire if it itself is not bright orange.  Any other ideas?

Just thought you would all like to know.

Cheers,

Aaron Choate