A HORRIFIED mum has issued a warning to other parents after her toddler was left with 5p-sized burn after being electrocuted by a phone charger.
The Australian mum explained how her daughter was “thrown across the room” after the plug began to spark, leading to a terrifying night in the emergency room.
2
Posting in the CPR Kids Facebook group she wrote: “My daughter was admitted into the hospital Monday after receiving a pretty bad electrical shock from trying to plug my phone charger in.
“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 mum explained that, right in front of her eyes, “she tried putting the phone part of the charger into the outlet,” when it “popped, shot sparks and what looked like flames and black smoke and threw her a few feet across the living room.”
She goes on to explain that, after going quiet, her daughter
then started hysterically screaming and crying.
2
The mum said she took her daughter straight to the hospital where “they found an entrance wound but not an exit which worried them that it zapped her heart.”
As a precaution, doctors kept her in overnight, but thankfully,
she is OK, besides the burn on her hand.
The mum wants to share what had happened, because – like so
many parents – she thought she’d done everything right.
She continues: “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.”
The post racked up hundreds of likes within hours, with people offering suggestions – like specialised boxes and tapes – to keep cords safe and out of reach from inquisitive hands.
WHAT TO DO FOR AN ELECTRICAL BURN
- 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
- Electrical injuries can cause damage to the heart and other organs, so always be prepared to follow DRSABCD (Danger, Response, Send for help, Check for Airways, is the person breathing, perform CPR and use a Defibrillator)
- REMOVE, COOL, COVER, SEEK as demonstrated in CPR Kids’ first aid for burns video
Plenty were also sharing their own stories of burns (and
near misses) and thanking the mum for raising awareness.
“My son just started trying to do this! So glad your bub is OK and thank you so much for the post,” said one mum.
Another said, “Gosh. I didn’t think about this. Thanks for sharing. I need to be extra careful now.”
This story was originally published on Kidspot and has been republished with permission.
In other parenting news, this mum has issued a heartbreaking warning after son almost “hanged himself” on totem tennis set by accident.
And this mum was left heartbroken after a photographer suggested airbrushing her son’s red and sore eczema from a family photo.
