SVA gifts Nissan Leaf to West Sussex Fire Brigade to train firefighters to manage EV road traffic collisions

• Nissan Leaf enables firefighters to put their EV training into action
• SVA MD encourages more companies to gift EVs to their local fire brigade

Shoreham Vehicle Auctions (SVA) has gifted West Sussex Fire Brigade a Nissan Leaf to support its firefighter’s EV education.

The 10-year-old electric car will play a key role in training the brigade’s firefighters on how to deal with EVs safely when they are involved in a road traffic collision.

“Currently there are no standards in place to manage an EV when it has been involved in an accident, so practical training sessions with a real car is invaluable,” according to Matt Whatley, watch manager – operational training at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service.

“We are attending more collisions involving EVs as the number of cars on the road continue to rise. The Nissan Leaf allows our firefighters to put their training into action and keep drivers and colleagues safe in the event of a road traffic collision involving an EV.

“Everyone involved in the collision including the vehicle recovery agents need to know how to safely manage a damaged EV. They need to be safely isolated which is where practical training comes in extremely valuable. We would like to thank Shoreham for its EV car donation,”

SVA’s MD Alex Wright is encouraging companies in the car industry to consider gifting an EV to their local fire brigade.

“The local brigade was grateful for our donation, and Matt thought it was the only brigade in the country with a real EV to use to enable them to carry out practical training. We are encouraging OEMs, dealers, leasing companies and rental companies to consider gifting an EV to their local fire brigade,” said Wright.

Picture caption: Matt Whatley, watch manager – operational training at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service receives the Leaf from Michael Simmons, SVA’s operations director with Jason Hancock, West Sussex’s service van engineer.