Emergency Responder Training for

Advanced Electric Drive Vehicles

Final Report

Prepared by:
Andrew Klock

Senior Project Manager

National Fire Protection Association
Quincy, MA 02269

© June 2013 Fire Protection Research Foundation

THE FIRE PROTECTION RESEARCH FOUNDATION

ONE BATTERYMARCH PARK
QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. 02169-7471
E-MAIL: Foundation@NFPA.org
WEB: www.nfpa.org/Foundation
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 FOREWORD

On-going programs and related initiatives by the U.S. federal government are promoting the
proliferation of the next generation of electric vehicles. This is accelerating the manufacturing
and deployment of electric drive vehicles. An important consideration for the implementation
of this new technology is the potential hazards that may result, and how the emergency
response community will address and mitigate those hazards.

The goal of this project is to provide comprehensive awareness and emergency response
training to fire fighters and other emergency responders to prepare them for widespread
implementation of advanced electric drive vehicles, including battery electric, hybrid electric,
and certain fuel-cell electric vehicles. The objectives of the project include enhancing general
awareness training, emergency response tactical training, and establishment of a centralized
resource for nationwide ongoing technology transfer. This project report provides a
compilation of information that documents the efforts taken to meet these objectives.

The Research Foundation expresses gratitude to the report author Andrew Klock of NFPA and
his support team. Special thanks are expressed to the U.S. Department of Energy as the project
sponsor.

The content, opinions and conclusions contained in this report are solely those of the author.

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 PROJECT TECHNICAL PANEL

Gregg Cleveland, NFPA Fire Service Section, La Crosse Fire Dept., La Crosse WI
John Cunningham, NAFTD, Nova Scotia Firefighter’s School
Rich Duffy, IAFF, Washington DC
Gregory Frederick, NFPA/IAFC Metro Chiefs, Louisville Fire/Rescue., Louisville, KY
Bill Giorgis, Michigan Towing Association, Mike’s Wrecker Service., Saginaw, MI
Terry McDonnell, New York State Police, Albany, NY
Larry McKenna, USFA, Emmitsburg MD
Jim Narva, NASFM, National Association of State Fire Marshals
Steve Pegram, IAFC & ISFSI, Goshen Township Fire & EMS, Goshen OH
Al Rosamond, NVFC, Hixon TN
Tony Sanfilippo, IFMA, Michigan Bureau of Fire Services

Daniel Bates, New York State Police, Albany, NY (alt to Terry McDonnell)
Jim Carroll, NAFTD, CT Fire Academy (alt to John Cunningham)
Karen Deppa, NASFM, (alt to Jim Narva, NASFM)
Victoria Lee, IAFC, Fairfax VA (Alt to Steve Pegram)
Ron McGraw, IAFF, Washington DC (alt to Rich Duffy, IAFF)

PROJECT SPONSOR
U.S. Department of Energy, through the NFPA

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Final Project Report for DOE Project ARRAVT036

National Fire Protection Association

Andrew Klock, Sr. Project Manager
DE‐EE0002009

May 2, 2013
FINAL PUBLISHABLE REPORT
 U.S. Emergency Responder Safety Training for
Advanced Electric Drive Vehicles

National Fire Protection Association – FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT

Final Version / May 2, 2013

U.S. Emergency Responder Safety Training for Advanced Electric Drive Vehicles

Primary Recipient: National Fire Protection Association, Andrew Klock, Sr. Project Manager

Project Start Date: February 1, 2011

Project End Date: January 31, 2013

Classification

This report is: Check all that is applicable…

Draft
Final X
Internal
Public X

Recipient Address and Contact Information

Andrew Klock, Sr. Project Manager National Fire Protection Association

1 Batterymarch Park 1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA, 02169 Quincy, MA, 02169
617‐984‐7089 (phone) 617‐770‐3000 (phone)
617‐984‐7528 (fax) 617‐770‐0700
aklock@nfpa.org

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 U.S. Emergency Responder Safety Training for
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary……..……………………………………………………….………………………Page 4
2. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….Page 5
3. Objectives of the Project……………………………………………………..……………………….Page 8
a. Project Scope…………………………………………………………..……..……………….Page 8
b. Project Goals…………………………………………………………..……………………….Page 8
c. Approach…………………………………..…………………………………………………….Page 9
d. Original Objectives and Accomplishments….……….…………………………..Page 23
e. Project Management…………………..…………………………………………………..Page 23
f. Milestone Summary……………………………………………………………………..….Page 23
g. Research…………………………………………….…..……………………………………….Page 32
h. Education Offerings……………………………….……………..….……………………..Page 32
i. Job Creation…………………….………………………………………………………………Page 38
4. Project Results…………………………………………….……………………………………………….Page 38
a. Results Overview…………………………………………………………………………..…Page 38
b. Paid Advertisements Results……………..……..……………………………………..Page 40
5. List of Deliverables………………………….………………………………………..………………….Page 41
6. Financial Overview……………..……………………………………………………….……………….Page 42
7. Continued Plans for Dissemination……………………………………....……………….…….Page 43
8. Sample Materials Developed…….………………………………………………………………...Page 44
9. Sample Media Coverage………………………………………………………………………….…..Page 52
10. Earned Media Coverage……..…..……………………………………………………………....….Appendix A

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 U.S. Emergency Responder Safety Training for
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Executive Summary:

Early in the first term of President Barack Obama’s

administration, a goal of putting one million
advanced electric vehicles on the road by 2015 was
established. As car manufacturers, government
officials and the public worked to make this goal a
reality, there was a potential road block — the
perceived fear that electric and hybrid vehicles would
be more dangerous to drivers and first responders if
involved in a crash.

With that in mind, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) a grant to provide nationwide training and education support to fire fighters and other first
responders. Without such training, the operators of these vehicles and first responders themselves
could be at increased risk. If questions or misconceptions arose about the safety of electric vehicles in
emergency situations, the adoption of electric vehicles — and ultimately the number of EVs on the road
— would be hindered. To respond to this challenge over the last three years, NFPA developed
comprehensive awareness training programs, including safety videos, animations and reference
material, and made them available throughout the country to our nation’s first responders, in a variety
of formats and mediums to reach as many as possible. Along with classroom train‐the‐trainer and
online training programs, on‐scene quick reference materials were also produced, all accessible from a
specially designed web portal that has quickly become the source of EV safety for all U.S. Emergency
Responders, vehicle manufacturers and the public alike. To support this effort, NFPA has partnered with
all of the major auto manufacturers that sell hybrid and electric vehicles in the U.S., as well as six
respected fire service subject matter experts in extrication, vehicle rescue and hybrid technology. NFPA
also worked with the Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), all of the major North American Fire
Service Organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the International
Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the International Fire
Marshals Association (IFMA), the National Association State Fire Marshals (NASFM), the Metro Fire
Chiefs, the United States Fire Administration (USFA), the North American Fire Training Directors
(NAFTD), the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs Association
(NSA), the New York State Police (NYSP), the
Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE), The
Department of Transportation (DOT), The
National Highway Transportation and Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI). First steps
included first responder research and needs

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 U.S. Emergency Responder Safety Training for
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assessment conducted across the country, the launch of a nationwide communications and awareness
campaign, the hiring of a curricula development team responsible for many National Fire Academy
(NFA) training programs, and a state of the art web site developer and online training design team
began work on the new EV web portal, training programs and reference materials. These steps allowed
advanced electric/hybrid vehicle safety to initially be disseminated to the fire service, and later in the
project, to the law enforcement and EMS communities. NFPA’s depth of experience in working directly
with emergency responders in safety, and developing and administering training courses throughout the
country allowed the necessary resources, tasks, and milestones to be implemented that guaranteed
completion of this vital project to be accomplished on time and on budget, while developing a highly
engaging, quality training experience centered around this new technology.

The results were unprecedented as a plan was implemented to cascade these classroom and online,
state of the art training programs through the firefighter divisions and ranks across the nation ‐‐ over
30,000 emergency responders were successfully trained in 48 states, and the EV/Hybrid emergency on‐
scene quick reference manual was distributed to over 3,200, while NFPA’s monthly EV Safety Newsletter
circulated to an audience of over 22,000, and the web portal was visited 135,000 times in the first two
years. Next, a law enforcement classroom training and video was developed with the assistance of the
New York State Police, and it was recently nominated for the State Police PACE award. NFPA is proud to
acknowledge that emergency responders are now well on their way to having a better understanding of
electrified vehicles and how to safely handle them in emergency situations across the United States of
America.

Introduction:

In 2013, 2.3 million hybrid and electric passenger

vehicles were on U.S. roads (hybridcars.com), and over
the next five years that number is expected to
quadruple. Pike Research predicts Hybrid Electric and
Plug in Electric Vehicles will account for over five
percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2017
(NavigantResearch.com “Electric Vehicle Market
Forecasts”), followed by exponential growth as the technology becomes less expensive. In Boston
Massachusetts alone, half of the taxi cabs today
are hybrid vehicles, and by 2015 the goal is to
have all hybrid cabs in the city. Despite the
growing popularity of Electric Vehicle (EV) and
Hybrid Electric (Hybrid) technology, NFPA
determined that the emergency responder
community was inadequately prepared to
handle incidents involving these electrified
vehicles and applied for a U.S. Department of

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Energy (DOE) grant to produce training for first responders in the electric/hybrid vehicle arena.
NFPA is currently the ANSI accredited national codes and standards developer for emergency responder
qualifications, equipment and tactics, as well as the codes and standards developer for vehicle fueling.
Our National Electrical Code® (NEC®) has established standards for EV charging stations, electrified truck
parking spaces and the impact of the EV charging infrastructure on power consumption and on
emergency response. Consequently, DOE awarded NFPA a $4.4 million three year grant in February of
2009 to develop and distribute nationwide responder training on Hybrid and EV incidents.

Initially, NFPA set out to research the emergency

responder communities to find out what their level
of knowledge was on this subject and how best to
train a vast emergency responder community,
including the 1.2 million paid and volunteer U.S. fire
fighter force. In early 2010, NFPA worked with DOE
to identify the first adopter cities and target those
areas. NFPA then held 17 nationwide first responder
focus groups, and phone surveyed 425 training
officers on their level of EV knowledge in crash
situations, as well as what topics should be taught
and how and where the training would be best received. It was quickly determined that only a small
fraction of the fire service had received any training on any of these new technologies and that training
and reference material should be developed in every possible form, including classroom, hands‐on,
virtual, online self paced courses, reference cards, books and PDFs to meet the varied needs of both the
paid and volunteer responder communities throughout urban and rural locations. It was also
determined that online web based training and an ‘App’ were not going to have as much impact as first
believed, because through the qualitative and quantitative studies, it was learned that many fire stations
across the country did not have or did not permit internet access and did not allow smart devices to be
used at accident scenes.

The next step NFPA took was to form an Emergency Responder Technical Advisory Panel, consisting of
executive level representatives from every major fire service organization across the country. Then a
search was conducted and contracts were established
with six first responder subject matter experts having
extensive experience in EVs, Hybrids, high voltage fires,
battery technology and extrication rescue procedures,
who in turn helped identify electric and hybrid vehicle
risks, procedures and safe methodologies. This input
formed the topics and formats that emergency
responders deem critical to their training material, and
is found today throughout NFPA’s deliverables.

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Through the SMEs and the Emergency Responder Technical Panel, it was determined that the impact of
hybrid and EV crashes involves potential fatalities and serious on‐scene injuries to both responders and
the vehicle occupants, as well as the possibility of post‐incident injury, death, or property damage to
investigators and tow and salvage personnel. The potential dangers identified from crashes of these
vehicles include stranded energy, unexpected silent movement, toxic and flammable gases emanating
from a damaged high voltage battery, thermal runaway, battery fires, and the possibility of electric
shock through exposed high voltage wires and components, as well as charging station events. These
hazards are well documented and are outlined in NHTSA’s “Interim Guidance for Electric and Hybrid‐
Electric Vehicles Equipped with High Voltage Batteries”, which NHTSA developed during this project, in
consultation with NFPA electric vehicle (EV) subject matter experts and our Public Fire Protection
Division.

It should be noted that this new hybrid and EV technology has not been found by the Department of
Transportation (DOT) to be inherently more dangerous to first responders and the public than
conventional gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles, but emergency responders simply haven’t
had the training and the experience dealing with electrified vehicle incidents, in comparison to the 100
years of education and familiarity with internal combustion vehicles. Therefore NFPA’s charge was clear
– produce excellent, engaging training and proliferate it through every channel and medium possible as
to obtain the greatest distribution of EV safety knowledge, in order to protect the emergency responder
communities and the public.

Over the past three years, NFPA focused

much time and resources into developing
a train‐the‐trainer program, classroom
and online curricula, multiple videos and
a quick reference manual which includes
extrication information, to keep fire
fighters safe when working at crash
scenes. NFPA capitalized on the proven
strategies and successes of its highly
respected codes and standards training
program development and
implementation, to produce some of the nation’s most effective and most disseminated emergency
responder training on alternative fueled vehicles available, in order to get ahead and stay ahead of the
wave of the new electrified vehicles being released on America’s roadways.

The following report details how these NFPA training initiatives are providing the knowledge necessary
to keep emergency responders and the public safe, as well as recapping the achievements in training,
deliverables, media coverage, and overall highlights of this three year effort.

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Objectives of Project

A) Project Scope
The project’s vehicle scope is limited to
Electric Vehicles (ex: Nissan Leaf), Plug‐in‐
Hybrids (ex: Chevrolet Volt) and the Hybrid
Electrics (ex: Toyota Prius). The scope of
awareness and tactical methodologies
includes emergency operation procedures,
high voltage vehicle safety systems and the
vehicle charging stations (EVSE). This
program does not include electrified trucks,
buses, fleet vehicles, motorcycles, fuel cell
or natural gas powered vehicles.

B) Project Goals

This project’s objective was to develop and make readily available comprehensive
awareness response training and reference materials to United States emergency
responders, in order to prepare them for their role in the safety infrastructure of advanced
electric drive and hybrid electric vehicles. This objective focuses on reducing firefighter and
civilian death and injuries; and removing any concerns the fire service may have for the
deployment of electric drive vehicles. This will help pave the way for EV and Hybrid vehicles
to begin to proliferate on America’s highways.

The goals of this program include:

 Provide emergency responders with general awareness training.

 Develop and deliver emergency response tactical training.
 Establish a centralized methodology and resource for nationwide ongoing
technology transfer.
 Establish improved communications between the auto manufacturers and the
responder communities, in order that safety information would be constructed and
conveyed more effectively; and manufacturers would more readily consider
responders’ safety and concerns regarding future vehicle designs.

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NFPA also set out to work with public and

private enterprise, as well as government
safety organizations and branches to help
keep everyone working towards the same
safety goals and moving in the same
direction. NFPA set out to partner with
DOE, DOT, NHTSA, SAE, ANSI, all the major
U.S. fire service organizations, law
enforcement organizations, insurance
companies and towing associations, to
assist with setting safety guidelines for this
new technology across the boards.

As the communications campaign was developed in spring of 2010, the goals included the
following:

 Drive awareness of electric vehicle training among first responders.

 Encourage the need and importance of the training.
 Produce high participation rates in the training.
 Elevate NFPA’s reputation as a leader in the fire safety and first responder
communities.
 Expand the public’s awareness of NFPA as a thought leader on public safety issues.

C) Approach

A major concern of emergency responders regarding the introduction of any new vehicle
technology is the lack of a consistent, independent source of reliable information and
training on safety. With NFPA’s goal now set to provide this vital safety training to an entire
country’s emergency responders, it was necessary to utilize multiple formats of information
that are consistent with how first responders are accustomed to receiving training.

1) Web Portal – www.EVSafetyTraining.org

First and foremost, this initiative included building a website to serve as a hub for
emergency responder training and the dissemination of information associated with
electric/hybrid vehicles. Two firms were hired to develop this site – the first to design it,
and the second to build it. This interactive website would include multiple e‐learning
components, downloadable reference material, training videos, and a separate page for
each vehicle manufacturer to post their Emergency Response Guides, safety information
and videos. The online modules on this site offer 24 hours/day access to multiple
training programs, video content and documented safety guidelines.

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General Motors was enthusiastic about the site and the ability to store their Emergency
Response Guides and videos there for responders, that they asked NFPA to speed up the
implementation plan, which was done.

Website design:
 A team of web designers worked closely with NFPA’s team to design wireframe
documents for the project website that would reflect the overall campaign strategy
and content. Recognizing that the website would be first responders’ gateway to
information regarding this training, the website was designed in a way that would
provide easy information about the main topics that were relevant to first
responders:
o Information about the project.
o Information about how to sign up for trainings.
o Easily accessible and downloadable content and resources that could be used by
members of the first responder community.

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 In addition to designing the wireframes, a recommended approach for driving traffic

to the website through search engine optimization and potential pay‐per‐click
opportunities were also developed.

Blog Content

 To help position the newly launched program as a leader for industry expertise in
electric vehicle emergency response, the training website hosted a blog featuring
commentary and training information from subject matter experts. Subject matter
experts worked to provided ongoing newsworthy commentary for posting to ensure
that the blog would continue to become a destination for the industry and establish
NFPA as a thought‐leader in the field.

Calendar of Events

 A calendar was designed into the portal, so it could be updated easily and allows the
viewer to quickly see when the next series of EV events were taking place across the
country. The events included conferences, trade shows, and any events that NFPA was
hosting or attending, including the fire service state trainings schedule.

Resources

A resources section of the portal provides a separate area for each auto manufacturer who
partners with NFPA. The pages allow vehicle ERGs to be posted and any other responder
safety information the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) would like to publicize.
Manufacturers have posted their emergency response guides, extrication videos, white
papers, news stories and links to other EV sites. This feature allows emergency responders
to have a central location to find safety information from any manufacturer, without having
to navigate through each OEM’s website.

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2) Communications Campaign

The second step was to find and

hire a communications firm and
begin a communications
campaign. Just as NFPA’s training
program included multiple forms
of outreach — in‐person, in‐print
and online — Fleishman‐Hillard
was hired to design a campaign
that integrated key program
elements to achieve the results
sought out by NFPA.

The campaign was built around

the following elements:

 Building a campaign
around a core set of compelling messages which speak directly to the key audiences
NFPA has identified.
 Developing a plan, communications tools and materials that would not only
encourage participation in the training, but also mobilize advocates among key
constituent groups.
 Conducting outreach through relevant trade, association, news and social media
outlets.
 Media and promotional support surrounding state‐level and online electric vehicle
training opportunities.

In addition to reaching firefighters and other first responders, our outreach also focused on
others who were not likely to respond to potential emergency situations involving electric
vehicles (the public) but whose awareness of the training and safety measures were critical
to the overall acceptance of new electric and hybrid vehicles.

Branding ‐ Name and Logo

To support the communications

campaign, a name was developed for the
campaign (Electric Vehicle Safety
Training), as well as a logo and a set of key messages for the campaign.

Our messages focused on driving awareness and communicating the need for the training
among first responders, why this training is necessary and why it is important now.

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Testing

In an effort to better understand what would catch the attention of first responders and
motivate them to enroll in the new electric vehicle safety training project, a 90‐minute web‐
based focus group with six first responders was conducted. As part of the discussion, first
responders provided feedback about their preferred information sources and proposed
campaign elements, including names, logos and messages.

Based on the feedback received during the focus group — coupled with the feedback
received from NFPA, the Fire Protection Research Foundation, the emergency responder
technical panel and a presentation delivered at the June 2010 NFPA Conference — the
messages, name and logo were finalized.

Materials Development

From the program’s inception, it was clear that there would be a need for materials across
multiple platforms to ensure the program delivered a consistent look, theme and message
to the many different audiences.

Key messages

To drive awareness and action among the fire service and other first responders, strong
marketing messages, based on core messages, needed to be employed in target media
through earned and paid placements. Core messages were developed about the project, the
training’s importance and the details of the training as well. Where possible, these messages
were followed with proof points.

Reactive messages

Since the program’s inception in 2010, the electric vehicle market has not stopped evolving.
As developments within the industry were made, messages were regularly updated so that
subject matter experts would be able to answer all questions with accuracy and confidently
address any changes that had been
made with both training participants
and with the media.

Post Cards

A series of post cards to hand out at

conferences and other EV events
were developed that would concisely
promote the training and convey the
key messages surrounding electric
vehicle safety. NFPA goal with these

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handouts was to inform emergency responders that they now had a centralized repository
of EV/Hybrid safety information and to point them to NFPA’s EV website.

Conference & Trade Show EV Exhibitions

NFPA exhibited and/or presented at targeted fire and law enforcement conference and
trade shows to raise the awareness of NFPA’s website, training & reference materials.

Fact Sheets, FAQs

As messages and other essential materials for the program were developed, Facts sheets
and FAQ documents were created, that were simple, one‐page materials that could be easily
distributed within media kits to provide media with the important background of the
training. In many on‐site media situations, these materials allowed reporters to quickly get
up‐to‐speed about the program, helping them to immediately dive into the importance of
the training project.

Press releases, media advisories

Throughout the duration of the program, there was much to be shared with both trade
audiences and the general public. As these milestones, events and developments occurred,
news and details of all these items were continually distributed so that the program would
remain on first responders’ minds and awareness would spread among consumers.

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Social Media Outreach and Digital Support

 Social media was also important in spreading the word quickly and cost‐effectively
about the EV Safety Training. Using NFPA’s existing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
presence, the message about the EV training was spread directly to first responder
audiences and others who are active on social media channels.

 Tweets, Facebook updates and YouTube videos were used to support major
announcements such as upcoming trainings, the launch of the online training and
partnerships with automotive manufacturers. While the majority of Facebook shares or
re‐tweets came from fire trade publications and members of the first responder
community active on social media channels, several traditional media and automotive
groups also shared the content with their respective followers.

Advertisements

Following the finalization of the

program logo, print advertisements,
online banners, online site
introduction displays, online page
peel advertisements and customized
email blasts were created with a
consistent message, look and feel.

3) Content Development

The third step was to develop the content of the training by identifying the risks and best
practices for responders and the public with electrified vehicles. This was done by utilizing
research from the Fire Protection Research Foundation, DOE’s research, NFPA’s Public Fire
Protection Division experts, our contracted SME experience and vital information supplied
by the auto manufacturers. Material from all of these sources were collected and
categorized, and many SME round table meetings were held until the core program content
was hammered out and documented.

4) Classroom Curricula Development

The fourth step included working with an experienced curricula developer, who had
previously developed multiple training programs for the National Fire Academy. A series of
meetings took place with the curricula developer, their contracted SMEs, NFPA’s staff and
our contracted SMEs in order to forge the training outlines, topics and delivery methods.

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5) Chevy Volt Classroom Training Development

During the EV Safety Training course

development, it was learned that General
Motors was planning a country wide first
responder training tour, to educate the fire
service, law enforcement and EMS on the
safety features and safety procedures to use
in a Volt Electric Vehicle incident. NFPA met
with GM and proposed that this be a joint
venture, and GM was amiable to partnering
with NFPA on this endeavor. As a result of
this first automotive manufacturer partnership, over 2,200 responders were trained
nationwide, not only on the Chevrolet Volt, but on many Hybrid and EV vehicle safety
principals that applied to many vehicles that were on the road at that time. GM then asked
NFPA to put together online training for their new Volt vehicle, which presented an
opportunity to provide Volt specific, as well as general EV safety knowledge to responders in
advance of NFPA’s larger programs which were about six months from completion. It
should be noted that NFPA provided the same opportunity to produce the same type of
vehicle specific online EV/Hybrid training to other domestic and international car
manufacturers, however, after serious discussions, others did not obtain approval to invest
the time and resources required and turned down our offers.

6) Online Training Development: Chevy Volt and EV/Hybrid Safety Program

The next step was to find and

contract a state of the art online
training development
organization. This was
accomplished by hiring a team of
SMEs to conduct an extensive
search throughout the e‐Learning
industry. After choosing an
organization, work began first on
the Chevrolet Volt course,
developed with the close
partnership of a GM team
assigned to oversee the content.
The course used cutting edge
videos, graphics, animations,
simulations and a learning management system (LMS), with quizzes and tests built in. The
course was a resounding success and had thousands of first responders participating within
the first few months after its release.

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Seeing the ongoing monumental results of the

Chevrolet Volt online safety course, the same
format and style of engaging videos, graphics,
animations, simulations, scenarios, testing
(which now had the questions randomized) and
an LMS was built in and the content was
expanded to include everything in the EV/Hybrid
classroom curricula. The full, online, web based
self paced course was release in June of 2011 and receive high praised from all who piloted
the program, including the emergency responder technical panel and selected fire service
personnel nationwide.

7) Classroom Training: Pilots and Release

As the Curricula Vendor completed the EV/Hybrid Safety Classroom Training, NFPA
scheduled five pilot programs at strategic fire academy locations in EV/Hybrid metro areas
were advanced electric drive vehicles were being released. Successful pilots took place at:

 Oregon Fire Chiefs Association Training in Salem, Oregon on April 14, 2011
 Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue in Sherwood, Oregon on April 18, 2011
 Phoenix Fire Department Training Academy in Arizona on April 26, 2011.
 Austin Fire Department in Texas on April 28, 2011.
 Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute on May 1, 2011.

The classroom program was modified based on the feedback obtained from these pilots,
and then the class was presented to the emergency responder technical panel, where it
received the highest marks. The program was deemed ready for release by NFPA, and the
first official class took place at the Massachusetts Fire Academy on July 28, 2011 to a class
size of over 80. The reviews gave the program the highest marks, and many of the fire
service in attendance were saying the program was one of the best train‐the‐trainer
programs ever offered at the academy.

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