SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Explosion / rupture

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20200728-E9CDE-2147370819. Severity: Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received. Product: ION TAILGATER EXPRESS TAILGATER EXPRESS iPA70 (ION TAILGATER EXPRESS Portable wireless waterproof speaker system TAILGATER EXPRESS iPA70). Incident: At approximately 5:30 pm, Saturday July 25, 2020, I attempted to turn on my ION Tailgater Express radio on a low wall near my swimming pool, prior to a dip. I noticed the blue light that was normally lit, was not on. I pushed the power button and the radio button with no success. The charger was plugged into the extension cord and the radio, so I went into the pumphouse to check the circuit breaker, which was on. I then went back to radio, unplugged the charger connection from the radio. To the best of my recollection, I then attempted to plug the wire back into the radio when the unit exploded. My left arm was around the radio, my right hand was on the top of the radio and my chest was directly over the top front. After the explosion, the next thing I remember was being on one knee near the edge of the pool, trying to get my bearings. I could see blood dripping on the concrete surface and heard my neighbor calling me. After the second time he called, I told him my radio had exploded. He came over and helped me up and walked me to my house. I went inside to clean up and change clothes before he took me to the ER at our local hospital. Two other neighbors also came to my aid. They said the noise rattled their windows and they could hear it with the windows closed. I was in the ER three hours and received three stitches and skin glue in my chest area and surgical strips on my left forearm. I returned to ER on Monday July 27 for a follow up to check the contusions on my left forearm. I have bruising on my forearm, chest and inside of my right leg.