Inexpensive portable electronic chargers are not as cost-effective as you might believe them to be, especially when you consider the number of reports that are about people suffering from burns when these devices end up getting overheated.
A report was published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, penned by Carissa Bunke, Andrew N. Hashikawa, and Aditi Mitra, doctors of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan C.s. Mott Children’s Hospital. According to this report, a nineteen-year-old female had to visit the pediatric emergency department once she ended getting burnt by her electronics charger. The woman was lying in her bed while wearing a chain necklace, and her charger was underneath her pillow while being plugged into the electrical outlet on the wall.
It was at that time that she experienced a burning sensation along with pain around her neck. The doctors ascertained that the female had a circumferential partial-thickness burn. She was treated and then released. The doctors had concluded that the burn was caused when the electrical charger made contact with her necklace.
The doctors have written in their report, ‘Several companies have investigated the difference in quality and safety of generic versus Apple-brand chargers and have found that the majority of the generic chargers fail basic safety testing, making them a higher risk for electrical injury. As a result of this case, patients and families should be educated about the safe use of these devices, especially while they are charging.’
The doctors have also managed to learn of an incident in which an electrical shock from the charger threw a guy off his bed. Back in June, reports came to light about a Louisiana woman woke to found burns on her arms and sheets after the cheap electronic charger that she was using caught on fire during her sleep. Patients who have sustained burns from their smartphone chargers generally require medication for dealing with the pain and also had to schedule follow up visits to the doctor. As per doctors, severe cases might end up in extensive tissue damage or deep burns that would require skin grafting.
Dr. Bunke, while discussing the results in a press release, said, ‘Even with a low-voltage device, if the current is high, then the electric shock can be severe.’
