AIR BAGS, HYBRIDS ENDANGER RESCUERS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

VALENCIA - It may look innocuous - a front-end collision with significant damage and moderate injuries to the people trapped inside.

But the life-saving devices in modern cars sometimes pose life-threatening situations for everyone from rescue workers, law enforcement personnel and paramedics to ambulance and tow truck drivers.

Many first responders have been injured by air bags that deploy after the initial crash or are jolted by voltage from hybrid car batteries, which are much larger than those found in standard vehicles.

``Air bags can present a hazard just like bumpers or car doors that are crumpled,'' said Officer Michelle Esposito, of the California Highway Patrol's Newhall station. ``The stored energy where the body of the car is bent in can hurt responders when they try to pry them open to get someone out of the car. Plus, we are trained to stabilize the scene before we get involved.''

According to the national Air bag Institute, 206 million cars have air bags, with 1 million new cars added each month. Some vehicles have eight to 10 air bags and more than 7 million cars have side impact air bags. The propellant used in most air bags is sodium aizide, the solid pellet form of a rocket propellant; some use compressed argon gas, helium or nitrocellulose.

Deploying air bags have been clocked up to 300 mph; most deploy between 200 and 300 mph. Side air bags deploy at three times the speed of frontal air bags.

Staying on top of technology is the approach taken by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, most often the agency responsible for freeing victims trapped in traffic accidents.

``Now that there are so many more cars that have not only air bags that deploy from the steering wheel and passenger dash areas, but also for side impact in the doors, there are definitely concerns and dangers to rescue and emergency workers called to the scenes,'' said fire Capt. Mark Savage. ``Many times when you have to use the Jaws of Life or cutting devices to gain access to the patient or when a person is trapped, you have to think twice about what kind of car you're dealing with.''

``Those same air bags that have the potential to save drivers and passengers from injury and death can pose a risk to the rescuers. Many times seconds count and our actions need to be very calculated on how we cut apart a car and not sustain injury to rescuers or further injure victims we're trying to rescue.''

Sheriff's Deputy Mike Shapiro of the Santa Clarita Valley station said caution is the watchword for deputies arriving at accident scenes for several reasons, one of them being the risk factor involved with car safety features.

``Unless there is an immediate threat to victims, like fire or a fuel spill, we usually wait for the Fire Department,'' Shapiro said.

The CHP's Esposito echoed his sentiment, emphasizing that victim safety is foremost when her agency arrives at a crash. Most of the heavy lifting requiring specialized equipment is left to the fire agencies.

In other states, several public safety officials have been injured when equipment such as firearms or communication terminals have been installed in the path of deploying air bags. Two police officers were injured in separate incidents when their laptop computers were launched toward them as their air bags deployed, causing severe head injuries; another received a concussion when his rifle was knocked loose by the air bag and struck him in the head.

``Our department is careful,'' Shapiro said. ``Our mobile digital terminals are installed down below the radio between the seats and never in front of air bags. Those are there for our protection in an emergency.''

Firefighter Simon Sage of county Station 126 in Valencia, said that supplemental restraint systems, such as air bags, are at the top of a long list of expected risks at the scene of an accident.

``We're already dealing with things like pretension seat belt systems that use charged gas cylinders, in addition to fuel tanks, batteries, shock absorbers and hatches with dampers and rams. If we try to cut into a portion of the car, there's always the danger of explosion.''

Sage said that some auto manufacturers send information about safety features to public safety agencies for training purposes, which they review on an ongoing basis. Although incidents of injuries to emergency personnel are frequently found on the Internet, none of the agencies serving the area - the CHP, the Sheriff's Department and the fire department - have experienced any incidents.

``I think it's largely due to the fact that we take time to keep ourselves up to speed,'' Sage said. ``Bottom line is that it's a dangerous environment. You have cars that are impacted in ways they weren't designed to go; things are bent, pushed and broken and in the middle of that, you've got a victim that needs to get out to get medical help. If the air bags haven't deployed, as we have seen in some circumstances, it is a cause for concern; the catastrophic failure of an air bag could cause emergency responders to be hurt while they're doing their job.''

Sage added that hybrid vehicle batteries don't pose the problem that the idle mode of the environmentally sensitive cars do. Cars that appear to be idle are actually conserving energy and can fire up and take off on their own at the slightest jostle.

The training is just another part of the firefighters' daily routine, Sage said. ``We're there to make sure we take care of business and not get ourselves hurt. It doesn't stop us from accomplishing our task, it just makes us stop and think.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com