HomeMy WebLinkAboutSOG 106.03 NEW 2-2009-Incident Reporting106.03 — Incident Reporting Process
Effective: 10/1/2001
Revised: 2/5/2009
Replaces: 106.07
I. Guiding Philosophx
In the public safety business, compiling accurate and thorough incident reports is critical.
Every incident report should simply state the pertinent facts as they occurred, be submitted in a
timely manner, and be quality control checked to insure their accuracy and completeness.
II. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to communicate the system of incident reporting and to
define the quality standards expected.
III. Goals
The goals of this policy are to:
A. Explain the utilization of the department's incident reporting system.
B. Establish a standard timeline and chain of responsibility for accurate completion
of incident reports.
C. Communicate initial quality assurance parameters and expectations.
D. Indicate the appropriate routing of requests for incident reports.
IV. Definitions
A. HIPAA — Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, passed by Congress
in 1996. The Privacy Rule contained in the Act regulates the use and disclosure of
protected health information.
V. Incident Reporting System
A. All incident reports will be completed in the Firehouse Incident Module.
Documentation on using the module is located in the Firehouse notebook that is
available at all department facilities and the department's shared g: drive.
B. An incident report will be completed on all incident responses made.
Additionally, an incident report will be generated for any on -duty injuries
occurring that are not associated with an incident. The individual's immediate on -
duty supervisor is responsible for completing the incident report for these types of
injuries, in addition to the forms required by SOG 108.01 -Injury Reporting and
Review Process.
C. For all incidents to which a Fire Investigator is called out, the Fire Investigator
will complete the Arson/Investigation section associated with the incident report
in question. The Arson/Investigation report section will be completed by the Fire
Investigator whether the fire was deemed accidental, arson, or undetermined.
D. The General Incident Narrative
1. To insure that narratives for incident reports include pertinent information
needed for future reference, the following guidelines will be followed
when completing general incident narrative within NFIRS:
a. Units responding
b. Type of call
Initial incident organization
1) Size-up/on-scene report
2) Assumption of Command established by
3) Strategy decision (offensive, defensive, marginal)
4) Operational plan (assignments given)
d. Progress and/or exception reports, if applicable
e. Command transfers, if applicable
f. Benchmark completion times, as applicable (patient contact,
primary search complete, water on fire, etc)
g. Adjustments to the operational plan, if applicable
1) Requests for additional resources
2) Changes in strategy or tactics
3) Significant occurrences (flashover, building collapse,
injuries, etc.)
4) Summary of events
2. To comply with the privacy rule contained in HIPAA (Health Insurance
Portability & Accountability Act), the general incident narrative should
NEVER contain information that would connect a patient and the medical
aid rendered to the incident. This information is documented in the patient
narrative.
E. The Patient Narrative
1. The patient narrative is where all information specific to the patient's
condition and any treatment rendered are recorded. The only information
that should be recorded in both the general incident narrative and the
patient narrative would be circumstances that caused:
SOG 106.03 - Incident Reporting Process Page 2 of 6
a. Delay in making patient contact (example: delayed by train,
perpetrator reported on scene, etc.)
b. Extended time on scene (example: prolonged extrications, etc.)
F. The information identified in the sections above should be considered the
minimum information required in an incident narrative. Incident narratives should
not contain personal opinions or "what -if' conjecture. Incident reports should
contain the observable facts as they occurred.
VI. Accurate Completion of Incident Resorts
A. Properly documenting the persons present at an incident, the actions taken, and
the significant events as they transpired, are essential elements in providing
quality service to our customers. It is critical that incident reports accurately state
the pertinent facts surrounding the situation, are professionally presented, and are
completed in a timely manner.
B. Timeline for Completion of Incident Reports
1. All incident reports for a liven shift are expected to be completed
prior to the 0800 hour shift change each day.
2. If for any reason this is not possible, the member responsible for the
completing the report will advise his/her chain of command via email as to
the reason the report could not be completed on time.
3. Overtime related to completion of incident reports after 0800 must be pre_
approved by the Assistant Fire Chief, since this expense will impact
his/her divisional budget.
C. Responsibility & Accountability for Completion of Incident Reports
1. All incident reports will be accurately and thoroughly completed by
Operations Division personnel. Responsibility for completion of incident
reports will adhere to the following parameters:
In general, incident reports will be completed by the ranking
Officer -in -Charge (person in Command) of the scene.
1 For all one alarm or greater incidents, the C Ief'Qjjoi,r,
serving as stationary Incident Commander will complete
the incident report.
2) For multi -unit responses (example: private fire alarms)
where a Chief Officer was disbatched_ but the resbonse did
not constitute a full one -alarm response, the C ldef QIIA"�uiciii� �r'
III 'ul ............
II,°
3) For single engine company responses, the
will complete the incident report.
4) For medical calls where a rescue is the only fire department
unit responding, the )Illi ll!!6 assigned to the unit
1p iu 'ii II„
will complete the incident report.
SOG 106.03 - Incident Reporting Process Page 3 of 6
b. All reports will be completed prior to any leaves of absence.
1) If an individual takes leave time (example: '/2 shift
vacation) for whatever reason, he/she should complete
the outstanding incident reports that are his/her
responsibility prior to departure. If this is not possible,
he/she will notify his/her chain of command via email
with the reason.
2) If an individual leaves a shift early for any reason,
responsibility for insuring the completion of any
outstanding incident report(s) will fall to his/her
immediate on -duty supervisor.
c. Calls cancelled while enroute will be completed by the ranking
on -duty Officer responding.
d. The District Chief is responsible for following up on any
incomplete or inaccurate reports filed within his/her assigned
district.
e. The Deputy Chief is responsible for following up on any
incomplete or inaccurate reports filed within his/her assigned
shift.
f. The Assistant Fire Chief is responsible for following up on any
incomplete or inaccurate reports filed within his/her division.
g. Failure to complete incident reports in a professional, accurate
and/or timely manner will result in the application of progressive
performance counseling by the individual's direct supervisor
and/or chain of command; or discipline, as applicable, by the
Fire Chief. Such counseling and/or discipline will be
appropriately documented by the issuing Officer.
VII. Qualitv Assurance of Incident Reports
A. All incident reports, including the content of the incident narrative, will undergo
an initial quality assurance check performed by the appropriate supervisor -in -
charge. On a regular basis, a random sampling of incident responses will undergo
a second level quality assurance check.
B. Performing an Initial Quality Assurance Check
1. The following tasks will be accomplished when performing an initial
quality assurance check of an incident report:
a. General review of all aspects of the incident report (including
units, personnel, times, owner, dollar loss, narratives, etc.) for
completeness and accuracy, relative to the call type.
SOG 106.03 - Incident Reporting Process Page 4 of 6
b. Make specific recommendations to the member making report as
to corrections or additional details, as necessary.
c. Special attention will be paid to insure the following are accurately
and professionally entered:
1) Responding units
2) Personnel (those actually there) are assigned to the proper
units
3) Appropriate NFIRS call type is used (should be as
specific as possible)
4) Strictly limit the use of ZERO, UU, UUU, NN, or NNN
codes (example: 300 -Rescue, EMS incident, other) unless
absolutely necessary
5) Incident narrative(s) details the pertinent facts that
occurred (see sections above regarding minimum
information requirements)
d. All quality assurance checks will be completed prior to any leaves
of absence.
1) If an individual takes leave time (example: '/2 shift
vacation) for whatever reason, he/she should complete
the outstanding quality checks that are his/her
responsibility prior to departure.
2) If this is not possible, he/she will notify his/her chain of
command via email with the reason.
e. If an individual leaves a shift early for any reason, responsibility
for insuring the completion of any outstanding quality checks will
fall to his/her immediate on -duty supervisor.
2. The Officer completing the initial quality assurance check will approve the
incident report in the Firehouse Incident Module. This will lock the report
so that no further modification can be done without prior approval.
C. Timeline for Completion of Initial Quality Assurance Checks
1. In general, reports that occurred between 0800 and 2200 hours should be
quality checked prior to 0800 shift change the next morning.
2. All quality assurance checks for a given shift are expected to be
completed no later than NOON on the shift's next tour of duty.
3. If for any reason this is not possible, the member responsible for the
completing the check will advise his/her chain of command via email as to
the reason the assignment could not be completed on time.
D. Responsibility & Accountability for Quality Assurance Checks
1. The responding unit's immediate supervisor on -duty is generally
responsible for follow up and the initial quality assurance check of all
incidents occurring within his/her assigned territory, as follows:
SOG 106.03 - Incident Reporting Process Page 5 of 6
a. For all multi -unit responses including one alarm orrg eater
incidents), the DeIIIxi.ily� Illwui w�` :miu�w-mi�iiuri:yT will complete the initial
quality control check in the Firehouse Incident Module.
b. For single engine company responses, the UNI ui iucl Ild i s iw-i iii i,y
will complete the initial quality control check in the Firehouse
Incident Module.
c. For medical calls where a rescue is the only fire department unit
responding, the 1 oiiiiimlll)arri;y � III'�l"�ui� ��i�� 4:mlu'-diiiiuri:y will complete the
initial quality control check in the Firehouse Incident Module.
2. If the Officer responsible for completing the overnight quality assurance
checks from the prior tour of duty is not at work for any reason on the
shift's current tour of duty, the responsibility of completing the checks
will fall to the o iiii-d iii ui iy UNI Cll i l of (example: Engine 5's Captain was
responsible but is off on the shift's next tour of duty—Car 53 will be
responsible for completing the quality assurance check by the noon
deadline.)
3. As with the completion of reports, the on -duty chain of command is
responsible for following up on any incomplete quality assurance checks
within his/her realm of responsibility.
4. Failure to complete quality assurance checks in a timely manner will result
in the application of progressive performance counseling by the
individual's direct supervisor and/or chain of command; or discipline, as
applicable, by the Fire Chief. Such counseling and/or discipline will be
appropriately documented by the issuing Officer.
VIII. Requests for Incident or Patient Reports
A. All public information requests (including incident and patient reports) will be
managed and tracked through the Community Risk Reduction Division (Fire
Marshal's Office). All personnel will refer any requests for reports from the
public to this office.
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