Sometimes you need to go back to the basics. What are the three types of stabilization? Scene , Vehicle , Causualty and the role of a Senior Officer on
Scene. "Stop and First Evaluate.... and continue to Re-evaluate. Making sure your crew is working in a safe manner. Part of your size up is to understand what the short forms of the car or truck are at the back of the vehicle. Is this a Hybred , Propane ?

Vehicles have had a radical change over the past 10 years. Designs and types of vehicles pose a variety of problems or soloutions for the rescuer.
Air Bags, does your dept. use Air Bag Restraints system or Airbag Securing Device? Has your department gone over the new hazards dealing with a Hybred Vehicle?

New cars that have high strength steel or micro-alloy Boron steel. Welded to lighter weight connectors in door panels or areas to protect the driver. These bars can make it very difficult to cut.

Does your extrication team have a person that checks or removes the plastic on your "A , B , C , D or E Posts" before cutting? Looking for items such as marking for Air Bag or Gas Shocks before anyone cuts?

Does your Medical Team know the 5 - 10 - 20 guideline on how far to stay back on each side of the Vehicle for saftey from air bags. 5 Inches on the seat air bags located along a outside of seat, 10 Inches on the drivers side steering wheel air bag, 20 inches on a passenger front seat air bag.

All vehicles are now coming with air bag system, don't be surprised to see a Transport Turck having air bag system. Gas shocks pose another threat that one has to be very carefull of when cutting. Cutting the back of a hatch back or removing the hood of a car. Some cars have gas shocks for there hoods.
You cut on of these and it can pose a safe issue if someone is in front of it.

Car fires is another area of concern on Gas Shocks, one story was told to me that they lost water pressure putting out the car fire in a garage. What happened was the gas shock, shot out through the front of the car by the head light, went through the hose. There is a training video we use up here where a firefighter is putting out a car fire. The gas shock of a bumper lets go on one side. The bumper takes out the firefighters legs just below his knee-caps. This is why we do attack at a 45 instead of straight on a vehicle.

Battaries, where are they located, some cars and trucks have more than one battery. They are not all located under the hood, some are found in the trunk or under the back seat of cars. Some are required for utility vehicles that my have power generators/ invertors inside there vehicles. What is your policy to cut or disconnect the batteries? Even when the battery is disconnected some componets are still live like the air bag system.

Newer vehicles have RPS / ROPS (Rollover Protection System) automatic or manual. Seen mostly on convertable vehicles. As well as new generation of glass on the way EPG (Enhanced Protective Window Glazing). Protects from crashes and illegal entry. The key componet is plastic interlayer resists a blow from a hammer, very difficult to breech.

Consider the 4 "S"s.... Size-up, Scan, Strip before cut or spread and last is the most important one in anything we do. Safety at all times.