Still not USB compatible- babies

A sixteen month old Colorado girl remains hospitalized after receiving a shock from dangling USB cord unplugged from an MP3 player.

One of the pitfalls of technology is that sometimes a few accidents occur before the danger of a certain practice becomes readily apparent. While most parents know to keep knives out of reach and not to leave a curious toddler inside a still-running vehicle, many might not think about USB cords disconnected from peripherals but still hooked up to a power source.

Trinity Anderson was rushed to a hospital in Longmont, Colorado Monday, unconscious and suffering severe burns to the inside of her mouth due to this very danger. Trinity’s grandfather describes the scenario that led to Tiffany’s injuries:

The USB cord for a music player was plugged into a laptop that was being charged on the floor next to the chair where her mother, Rhianna Anderson, was sitting. The music player was a Christmas gift. The laptop is less than a year old.

“Trinity crawled behind the chair her mom was in, and when her mom didn’t see Trinity pop back out the other side, she looked behind the chair and saw Trinity face down,” Jeff Anderson said.

Trinity remains on a ventilator, sedated so she does not disturb the apparatus that has maintained her respiration since Monday night. Her prognosis is not completely clear at this point:

“The burn team here feels her injuries will heal with some cosmetic damage, but we have no idea about her mental function,” he said. “She was probably unconscious for three minutes.”

The hospital indicates that this is the first case of its type involving USB cords they’ve seen. Sadly, it’s highly likely it won’t be the last.