AUTO INDUSTRY Changes in safety gear poses a threat to rescuers

Devices like extra air bags can be dangerous to unaware emergency workers.
WASHINGTON POST
Firefighters with Edgely Fire Co. in Bucks County, Pa., had just doused a small blaze in the floor of a 2002 Mercedes-Benz when Chief Kevin Flanagan heard two loud bangs, like shotgun blasts.
Flanagan ran from his truck back to the Mercedes and found one of his firefighters lying unconscious in the car's front seat and another -- Flanagan's son -- wandering around in a daze. The car's front air bags had deployed in their faces, knocking out Andy Taggart, 25, and leaving Ryan Flanagan, 18, with powder burns and temporary hearing loss.
The two men might have died from the blows if they hadn't been wearing helmets, Kevin Flanagan said.
The incident that night in April reflects a mounting problem for emergency workers nationwide: Automakers are packing cars and trucks with new devices to increase safety for motorists, such as air bags that can fire off twice or are located in doors or roofs, but the same equipment poses dangers to rescuers, who often aren't aware the hazards even exist.
"Pre-tensioning" seat belts, which use a charge of gunpowder to yank against an occupant during impact, can explode in the hands of a firefighter working to cut someone free. A retractable roll bar that springs up behind the seats in some convertibles can cause serious injuries to an unsuspecting paramedic. Metal detonators tucked into rooftops to inflate side curtain air bags can go off like missiles if cut into by rescuers, firing into the cabin of the vehicle.
Rapid developments
Cars today are "a loaded bomb waiting to try to hurt us as responders," said Lt. Mark McKinney, a vehicle rescue specialist with the Howard County, Md., Department of Fire and Rescue.
Emergency workers are used to dealing with the standard hazards of gas tanks and 12-volt batteries, but technology is changing so quickly that many cannot keep up with what's on the street, from cars with as many as a dozen air bags to gas-electric hybrid vehicles with batteries powerful enough to electrocute a person.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking emergency workers to report injuries or safety concerns about air bags and other vehicle equipment and has asked the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians to collect the same information from its members nationwide. The agency is trying to "start putting together the puzzle of what's going on and what it would take to resolve the issue," said Jeff Michael, director of NHTSA's office of impaired driving and occupant protection.
Advocates say the government should require carmakers to keep rescuers informed, such as by putting labels on vehicles that list all potentially hazardous systems on board. NHTSA says it's considering such a step but needs more data.
Collecting examples
David Long, a Minnesota nurse and emergency medical technician who tutors emergency workers nationwide under the nickname "The Air Bag Detective," has been traveling the country compiling cases of post-crash injuries.
Among his 30 examples are an Arizona woman killed after a police officer accidentally set off an air bag while freeing her from a wrecked vehicle, a Minnesota firefighter hit in the head by an air bag while working on a vehicle fire, and several auto mechanics struck by air bags when they tapped the wrong wire.
Today's cars are designed to save lives at the moment of impact, Long said. "After that, all bets are off. ... There are no guarantees to the EMT, the cop, the firefighters trying to do the rescue. This is not even part of the ... curriculum that rescue workers get in training."
The auto industry is becoming more aware of the issue and debating how to respond, said Bernard Robertson, senior vice president for engineering technologies and regulatory affairs at DaimlerChrysler AG.
"It's a valid point, and the whole industry is starting to figure out what to do about that," he said. "We've already got labels plastered all over vehicles; at some point it just becomes a blur of labels. But there is a lot of interest in how do you get better information out to first responders? It's sort of in its infancy."