Writing Effective Incident Reports - nfic.org

1 WritingEffectiveIncidentReportstipsforwr itingreportsthatareaccurateandprofession alIntroductionReportsserveasa permanentrecordofincidents,events,proble ms, Reports ,eachof ,identifyproblemsinthecommunity, facilitateinvestigations,preparecourtcas es,or is ,I wanttobrieflytouchontheimportanceof well-writtenreportsandthecharacteristics of a poorlywrittenreportcancauseyoutolosea caseincourt,perhapsresultingina criminalbeingsetfreetokill,rape,steal, failuretotakeappropriatefollow-upactiono na ,punctuation,spelling, commacanchangethemeaningofa 'snotuncommonina courtoflawforattorneystoattackthecredibi lityofa witnessbydisplayinga reportonscreenforalltoseeandpointingouta lltheerrorsingrammar,spelling, tocastdoubtonthewitness'scompetencyandpr ofessionalism.

2 "Ifthewitnessisthiscarelessin writinghisreport,howcanwetrustthathewasa ccurate,thorough,andattentivetodetailwhe nconductinghisinvestigation?" workplaceinjurywherefirefightersorparame dicsincorrectlydocumentinformationgivent o ,Workers'Compensationdeniesthepatient'sc laimbecauseof thewaysomethingwaswrittenin getthosebenefitsrestoredwillbea nightmareforthepatient,allbecausesomeone failedtobeclear,accurate,orspecificina orforwardingit : Confusingtosomeonewhowasn'tthere(reportd oesn'tpainta clearpic-ture) Thoughtsnotpresentedinanorganizedmanner Notenoughdetail(who,what,when,where,why, andhow) Notclearandconcise Poorgrammar,punctuation,andspelling Incorrectwordusage Useof terms,abbreviations,andacronymsthatreade rsmaynotbefamiliarwith Inconsistencyinstylethroughoutthedepartm entCharacteristicsofa GoodReportThefollowingarecharacteristics of a goodreport(oranyotherdocument,forthatmat ter): Accurateandspecific Factual Objective Clear Complete Concise Well-organized Grammaticallycorrect LightonabbreviationsWe'lladdresseachof thesecharacteristicsin goodreportisaccurateandspecific,factual, objective,clear,complete,andconcise.

3 ~g1M'[g"gIWggItisalsowell-organized,gram maticallycorrect, 2006 FirebelleProductionsAGoodReportIsAccurat eandSpecificEmergencyrespondersdonothave muchroomforerrorin ,as drugdosage,forexample, hauntyoulaterwhenyoursupervisor,thepatie nt'sfamily,or anattorneywantsto ,youmayhaveforgottenthedetailsof youdorememberthecorrectinformation,yourc redibilitywillsufferwhenyouhaveto admityoumadea mistakein ,times,names,phonenumbers, , 'softena goodideato seta documentasidefora dayor two,if youhavethatflexibility,thenproofit anexample:Vague:Specific:Thepatienthada feverof 103 'sa difference,bytheway, somethingrealthatcanbeeitherprovedor a statementof , beinaccurate,butit wasa statementof factversusaninferenceor a becomessoundorbelievableif :Bloodtestsconfirmedhehada factissomethingrealthatcanbeeitherproved ordisproved.]

4 ~l\f:srf:~ a mayormaynotbeappropriateto includeopinionsin ,ifyoudoincludethem, :Thedriverhada :Thepatientis GoodReportIsObjectiveObjectivereportsare fatrandimpartial, beingobjectiveis to avoidwordswhoseconnotationschangethetone of : thestoryanddoesnotfavoronesideor ,thesecondandthirdareslantedto favorthewifeandhusband, bloodynoseanda 'tholddowna thefacebecausehe theface,includinga bloodynoseanda havebeenbadlybeaten,butshehadonlya littlebitof bloodbeneathhernoseanda ,witnesses, ,whenyouincludethosestatementsin yourreports,youneedtomakeit , , ,0 2006 FircbelleProductionsA GoodReportIsCompleteA well-writtenreportis coversthewho,what,where,when,why, ,don'tstopwithwhothevictimwasandwhorespo ndedto ,whoreportedit, whowitnessedit, whomyoutalkedto duringyourinvestigation,whomarkedandrece ivedtheevidence,otherpeoplewhomyounotifi ed, appropriatefora givenreportdependslargelyontheincidentan dyourdepartment' ,also.

5 Howthereportmaybeusedin beusedin courtsomeday?If so, ,includingsomethatarenotin thereport,thelessyouhaveto relyonmemoryandthemorecredibilityyouhave in :ifitisn'tdocwnented,itdidn' ,forexample,a medicalcallwherethepatientsuffersa court,as youcanpredictit will,questionsareraisedasto whetherthecarerenderedbyemergencypersonn elcontributedto hisnarrativethatfirefightersassessedthep atientandprovidedbasiclifesupport, saythatfirefightersprovidedspinalimmobil ization?It mayhavebeendone,butif it isn'tdocumented,it willbecomea veryuncomfortablepointof contentionin showa trendin yourcity?Willyouneedto comparethecircumstancesof thisincidentwithanotheronethatmightberel ated?If therearedetailsyoumayneedin thefuture,includethemin thesereportsarepublicdocumentsand,as such, ,anauthoror journalistworkingona bookor thereanythingin yourreportthatwilllaterembarrassyouor youragency?

6 Thisleadsto thequestionof whatto dowithdetailsthatshouldn' , , bestructuredin sucha waythatconfidentialinformationis restrictedto documentsthataren'taccessibleto goodreportcoverssiximportantquestions:Wh o?What?Where?When?Why?andHow?,.F.. ~Remember,if itisn'tdocumented,itdidn' 2006 FirebelleProductionsLaterin triggeryourthinkingas GoodReportIsConciseIt mayseemcontradictoryto saythata , ,it :Theenginecompanythatarrivedfirstonscene imme-diatelybeganoperationsto searchthefirstfloorof :Thefirst-inenginecompanyimmediatelybega nsearchandrescueoperationsonthefirstfloo rof GoodReportIsWell-OrganizedPoorlyorganize dreportscanleavereadersfeelinglostandcon fused,so it' organizeinformationwilldependsomewhatont hetypeofreportandthecomplexityof simpleincidentreportmightworkbestif organizedin ,ontheotherhand,mightflowbetterif organizedbytypeof violation( ,blockedexitsin threeareas)or bylocation( ,problemsnotedroom-by-room).

7 A fireinvestigationreportmightrequirea mayneeda chronologicalaccountof whathappened,thenseparatesectionsto addresscauseandoriginanalysis,evidenceco llected,statementsfromwitnesses, GoodReportIsClearA clearreportis differentpeoplecanreadthesamereportandco meupwithdifferentinterpretations,therepo rtis , ,theclearertheincidentwillbeto unclearbecauseit leavestoomuchopento ,unambiguous, 2006 FirebelleProductionsVague:Clear:Thebalco nycollapsedbecauseit wasdesignedtoholda maximumof ,sketches,andphotographsasappropriateto helpillustratethescene,andmakesuretheinf ormationin yourreportis consistentwithwhatis depictedin GoodReportIsGrammaticallyCorrectManyofth eerrorsmadein reportwritingareerrorsin grammar,punctuation,spelling, grammarandpunctuationcanaffectboththecla rityandaccuracyof thisnewsletter,thiscanbea sourceof greatembarrassmentin 'sbeyondthescopeof thisnewsletterto gointodepthonhowto ,let'slookat a omissionof a commacanchangethemeaningof :Thesecondpatient,whowastransportedtoCom -munityGeneralHospital.

8 Thefirstsentence,thewordsprintedin italicsareessentialto themeaningof thesecondof twoormorepatientswhoweretransportedto thesecondsentence,thewordsarenonessentia l;theycanberemovedwithoutchangingthemean ingof twoormorepatientstreated, eachsentenceof in theuseor omissionof appearsasiftheofficers,notthedrunkdriver ,wereweavingin andoutof 2006 FtrebelleProductionsWrong:Weavingin andoutof traffic, traffic, ,whilethepassivevoiceemphasizestheperson or generallyclearer,morepowerful,moreintere sting, ,asillustratedbelow,thewhodunitis :Passive:Thepatient' typothatisn'tcaughtbyspell-checkerscanch angethemeaningof a ,spell-checkerswon'tIdentifyif you'vemistakenlyidentifiedthata ,whenyouconfusesuchwordsasitsandit'sorac ceptandexcept,it hurtsyourcredibilityanddistractsfromthec ontentof ,punctuation,andspellingmaynotbeamongyou rstrengths,butthey'revitaltowardswriting a GoodReportIsLightonAbbreviationsSomeabbr eviationsareacceptablein 'scertainlyappropriateto useMr;Mrs.

9 , all ,it'sacceptableto useAIDS insteadof ' ,gpm, , ,it wouldbeinappropriateto usethatabbreviationin 'tabbreviateoutof abbreviationsin usingtheminappropriatelycandetractfromyo urmessageandgivereaderstheimpressionthat youdonotknowhowto /c>'; ~'\..~ ~i\.\..:.;. (02006 FirebclleProductionsWhodunit?Whatdunit?a ndSoForthTheimportanceof beingcompletewasaddressedearlierin ,thefollowingpagescontainideasof thingsyoumaywantto coverwhenhittingthewho,what,where,when,w hy, ,theemphasisplacedoneachof thesequestionswillvarybasedonthetypeof incidentandhowinvolvedit is, Whowasdirectlyinvolved?(Whowasinjured?Wh oexperiencedtherelease?) Whodiscoveredtheincident? Whoreportedtheincident? Whowitnessedtheincident?Whosaworheardsom ethingimportant?)

10 Whomdidyoutalktowhileonsceneorwhileinves tigatingtheincident? Whorespondedto theincident? Whotookwhatactions? Whois theresponsibleparty? Whowasin possessionof thepropertyat thetimeof theincident?(Thismaybedifferentthanthere sponsibleparty.) Whowasnotifiedof theincident?(Didyoucallparents,aninsuran cecompany,or otheragencies?) Whois theinsurancecarrier? Whocollected,marked,andreceivedevidence? Whomdidyouturnthepatientor propertyoverto?What? Whathappened?(Includetypeof incidentandenoughdetailsto painta pictureof theincident.) Whatpropertywasinvolvedandto whatextent? Whatwasthepatient'schiefcomplaint? Whatactionsdidyoutake? Whatweretheresultsof youractions? Whatautomaticsystemswereinvolved(alarmsy stems,sprinklersystems,airbags,etc.)? Whatwassaid?