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).

3 Accurateandspecific Factual Objective Clear Complete Concise Well-organized Grammaticallycorrect LightonabbreviationsWe'lladdresseachof thesecharacteristicsin goodreportisaccurateandspecific,factual, objective,clear,complete,andconcise.~g1M '[g"gIWggItisalsowell-organized,grammati callycorrect, 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.]

4 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.~l\f:srf:~ a mayormaynotbeappropriateto includeopinionsin ,ifyoudoincludethem, :Thedriverhada :Thepatientis GoodReportIsObjectiveObjectivereportsare fatrandimpartial, beingobjectiveis to avoidwordswhoseconnotationschangethetone of.

5 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,howthereportmaybeusedin beusedin courtsomeday?

6 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?

7 Willyouneedto comparethecircumstancesof thisincidentwithanotheronethatmightberel ated?If therearedetailsyoumayneedin thefuture,includethemin thesereportsarepublicdocumentsand,as such, ,anauthoror journalistworkingona bookor thereanythingin yourreportthatwilllaterembarrassyouor youragency?Thisleadsto thequestionof whatto dowithdetailsthatshouldn' , , bestructuredin sucha waythatconfidentialinformationis restrictedto documentsthataren'taccessibleto goodreportcoverssiximportantquestions:Wh o?What?Where?When?

8 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).

9 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.

10 Let'slookat a omissionof a commacanchangethemeaningof :Thesecondpatient,whowastransportedtoCom -munityGeneralHospital; 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.