Mom Issues Warning, Says Mishap with Phone Charger 'Threw' Toddler Across Room in Puff of Smoke

By Amanda Thomason December 7, 2019 at 12:24am

When a baby comes into your life, there’s a swirl of adjustment that never quite seems to slow down. Not only do you have to think about clothing and feeding a new miniature human, you have to think of their safety, too.

Cabinet doors, table corners, electrical outlets — the list of dangers goes on and on, and enterprising companies have manufactured devices to try to minimize the chances that toddlers will toodle into disaster.

Just like children seem uncannily drawn to poking eyes, they respond like a moth to the flame when it comes to putting things into outlets.

They’re little sponges, and when they see mom or dad do something, they want to try it out too — but they don’t always get the details right, and that can be disastrous, as one mom found out.

While the mother did not share her name, her story has been circulating through the Facebook page CPR Kids, featuring a photo showing her daughter’s hand with a black burn mark on her palm.

“My daughter was admitted into the hospital Monday after receiving a pretty bad electrical shock from trying to plug my phone charger in,” the mother explained. “Unfortunately this happened right in front of me.”

“I didn’t realise she knew how to attempt to plug in a charger until it was too late. The power strip she tried plugging the charger into (one end was already plugged in, she tried putting the phone part of charger into the outlet) popped, shot sparks and what looked like flames and black smoke and threw her a few feet across the living room. She was quiet for a few seconds then started screaming and crying.

“In ER they found an entrance wound but not an exit which worried them that it zapped her heart. She needed to stay overnight to monitor her heart. Thankfully she is ok besides a burn on her hand.”

The mom warned that this wasn’t a simple case of negligence: She’d run the gamut when it came to baby-proofing her home, and this danger was one she’d never thought existed.

“Even though my house is baby proofed with outlet covers, door stoppers, baby gates, stove knob covers etc, my baby still got hurt from something I stupidly never even considered would be an issue. Needless to say all power strips will be hidden in spots she can not get too from now on.”

The CPR Kids page shared a link to burn response protocol when someone gets shocked, giving a quick rundown of how caregivers should react if their charges experience something similar.

“And for electrical burns, always remember to first switch off the circuit breaker (safety switch) before touching your injured child – so that you yourself don’t also become a victim and can then no longer assist your child.”

“Also, be prepared to follow DRSABCD (as electrical injuries can cause damage to the heart and other organs), before following REMOVE, COOL, COVER, SEEK as demonstrated in our first aid for burns video.”

Readers commented with some helpful suggestions and product recommendations that would take care of the issue.

There are a variety of shells and cases that can be bought to cover power strips and still allow air circulation without allowing small fingers to reach the plugs or outlets.

Thankfully there are ways to prevent this sort of problem, but it’s always wise to be aware of the potential dangers lurking in the most unsuspecting places.

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