Author Claims Departments Won't Respond
Via a story from Firehouse.com, I learned that author Brock Yates has made an interesting statement in one of his articles. Brock writes for Car and Driver magazine. In the September 2005 issue regarding hybrid cars, Brock states the following:
And speaking of the environmental component (the glamour issue centered on the brave new world of hybrids), a number of EMT and fire crews have announced that they will refuse to rescue victims trapped in such vehicles, openly fearing electrocution or fatal acid burns.
It is difficult for me to think that emergency crews would refuse to rescue trapped victims. If there are departments that would refuse to respond, what departments are they? This from the Firehouse.com article:
Neither Car and Driver Magazine nor Brock Yates responded to Firehouse.com's request to identify which fire departments made these alleged announcements, and fire service leaders questioned the veracity of the statement.
In today's internet world, if you make a statement, you better be prepared to back it up. So far Yates hasn't responded, but I just found this story this morning so he may be formulating his response.
I'll be sending an e-mail to Yates and to Car and Driver myself. I'll post about their responses. Stay tuned.
I want to point out that the article was focused almost solely on the viability of hybrid cars. There were no other references to emergency crews in the article.
