As EV Adoption Accelerates, GM Expands EV First Responder Training Efforts in U.S. and Canada

Back to School

GM is significantly expanding its efforts to educate public safety, fire and emergency service providers throughout the United States and Canada as EV sales grow. The company’s latest EV First Responder Training program will focus primarily on personnel in fire services, providing instruction and sharing of best practices on how to most effectively support emergency situations involving electric vehicles, like the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and Cadillac LYRIQ.

This program, though directly focused on responders, also benefits drivers involved in incidents, where every second matters, and is a continuation of GM-led education efforts that began more than a decade ago with the introduction of the revolutionary Chevrolet Volt. With plans to have the capacity to build more than 1 million EVs by 2025, GM continues to ramp investments in the ecosystem that will enable mass adoption and support those who play a vital role in the responsible deployment of electrified technology.

“Our primary goal is to provide key information directly to first and second responders,” said Joe McLaine, GM global product safety and systems engineer, and leader of the training effort. “This training offers unique material and hands-on experiences that can help increase responders’ awareness of procedures to help maintain safety while interacting with EVs during the performance of their duties.”

gm ev training — A firefighter from the Illinois Fire Service Institute demonstrates occupant extraction best practices for EVs by cutting interior structural components of a GMC HUMMER EV Pickup. First responders are being taught to look out for orange-colored wiring that indicates high voltage.

GM’s EV First Responder Training effort is an education and outreach program designed to offer emergency responders key information about battery electric vehicle technology, dispel misconceptions and share important industry best practices for handling electric and electrified (hybrid) vehicles safely in multiple situations. For example, many people believe water is dangerous around an EV battery, when in fact a large volume of water is the recommended method to suppress a lithium-ion battery fire. This program will be divided into both live presentations and other training formats, including combinations of expert presentations, videos, animations and virtual demonstrations.

“The best way for the public and private vehicle fleet owners to rapidly adopt EVs is to train firefighters and emergency responders on how to handle incidents involving battery powered vehicles,” said Andrew Klock, senior manager of education and development at the National Fire Protection Association. “The fire service has had more than 100 years to gain the knowledge needed to respond to internal combustion engine fires, and it is critical that they are now educated on EV safety.”

The NFPA has led its own education efforts around EVs with 300,000 first responders but estimates there are more than 800,000 additional members of the community that need further training.

Retired firefighter Leroy Williams hosts a training video as part of GM’s EV first responder training.

Following successful pilot events that have taken place in southeast Michigan, training and outreach events will expand across Michigan and in Fort Worth, Texas followed by metro New York City and Southern California later this summer. First and second responders can go to gmEVFirstResponderTraining.com to learn more about this hands-on training opportunity.

A few key stops will also include:

The International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Fire-Rescue International conference in San Antonio from Aug. 24-26.
The Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis from April 24-29, 2023.

Training for the first and second responders will include materials and curriculum developed with select key active members of public safety communities, delivered over a four-hour block of instruction, with up to two sessions per day in major markets, across multiple venues such as fire houses, training academies, regional learning centers or dealerships. The coursework will be accounted for by a Certificate of Educational Achievement, and trainees will need to score higher than 70% on the check on learning assessment. After completing the hands-on training, attendees will receive a Certificate of Completed Training offered through the Illinois Fire Service Institute, the only nonprofit, state-funded fire safety organization in the U.S. The IFSI is proud to partner with GM on this initiative.

“The GM EV First Responder Training initiative is a great example of important and relevant information becoming accessible to first responders,” said Chief Jim Keiken, director of Illinois Fire Service Institute. “This training directly connects to the fulfillment of the IFSI mission: ‘Helping Firefighters Do Their Work Through Training, Education, Information, And Research.’”

EV safety doesn’t begin at the point of a collision. While gas- and diesel-powered vehicles share many similar crash safety aspects with electrified vehicles, GM’s clean-sheet approach to EV design with its Ultium-based vehicles like the GMC HUMMER EV and Cadillac LYRIQ means high voltage wiring is routed out of reach of passengers, along with other benefits including a much lower center of gravity than internal combustion vehicles, which may lower the risk of rollovers. Additionally, unlike home electronics, vehicles are developed with isolated electrical circuits to help reduce the risk of a current returning to ground.

A yellow sticker provides guidance on where to disable a vehicle’s standard 12-volt circuit and is a new industry practice to aid first responders. GM’s training includes guidance on doing this more sparingly to keep battery management systems active.

Before customers purchase a new vehicle, GM engineers put them through rigorous testing procedures which includes real-world and virtual testing, including battery pack immersion testing and vehicle splash testing in water to simulate floods and test seals and other isolation measures. During vehicle development and testing, engineers evaluate battery module structures and validate systems that automatically disconnect a vehicle’s high voltage circuit.

GM is also dedicated to teaching first and second responders how to approach an emergency scene with as much information as possible, including information from OnStar’s available Automatic Crash Response and Injury Severity Prediction. Thanks to a relationship with RapidDeploy, OnStar can let responders know if an incident involves an EV. The important information OnStar provides also allows for public safety officials to triage the situation appropriately and provide first responders with what they need to respond safely and effectively on-scene.

This EV First Responder Training is just the second of its kind. As GM aspires to eliminate vehicle tailpipe emissions and only sell zero-emissions light-duty vehicles by 2035, vehicle safety, research and advocacy shape the company’s human-first approach to safety for people both in and around its vehicles. This includes investments in education such as the EV First Responder Training and tools to guide a speedy and safe transition to EVs.