An **Incident Report** (IR) is a formal record of an event that needs careful documentation — anything from a minor scrape to a serious medication error. They're separate from daily tracking entries because they capture more detail and go through a **review** before they're considered complete.

## When to file an IR

Common triggers across most organizations:

- **Injuries** — falls, hits, scratches, bites, anything requiring first aid.
- **Behavioral incidents** — significant aggression, self-injury, property damage, elopement.
- **Medication errors** — wrong med, wrong dose, missed dose with consequences.
- **Allegations** — complaints, abuse allegations, neglect concerns.
- **Near-misses** — events that almost caused harm but didn't.
- **Property damage** — significant damage to belongings or facility.
- **Protective physical intervention** — when a physical intervention was used.

Your organization will have its own policy about what triggers an IR. When in doubt, file one — it's better to over-report than under-report.

## What's in an IR

The exact fields depend on your organization's setup, but an IR generally captures:

- **Date and time** of the incident (separate from when the report was filed).
- **Incident type(s)** — one or more categories (fall, behavior, medication error, etc.).
- **Description** — narrative of what happened.
- **Witnesses** — anyone present (optional — there's no minimum number).
- **Injuries** — body diagram, severity, treatment given.
- **Photos and videos** — supporting media.
- **Follow-up actions** — what was done, and what's planned next.

## The IR workflow

On the website, each report moves through clear stages shown in the **Incident Reporting** list:

1. **Draft** — the report is still being written. The author can edit freely (most fields save as you change them).
2. **Waiting for Reviews** — after the author submits (**Submit For Review**), the report waits for the people chosen as **Responsible Parties** (reviewers) to finish their review. *(In the **Status** filter, this is labeled **Waiting For Review**.)*
3. **Completed** — all required reviews are done; the row shows **Completed** with the completion date and reviewer.

**Restricted** isn't a separate type — **any** incident report becomes restricted when it indicates suspected **abuse, neglect, or exploitation**. A restricted IR shows a **Restricted** label on the row, and access is limited to Managers, Billing users, and people with **Review MAR/IRs**, plus the report's author. Use the **Restricted** option in the **Status** filter to focus on those.

> Mobile wording can differ slightly, but the underlying states are the same.

## The Incident Reporting page (web)

Open **Incident Reports** in the **top menu** (same row as **Track** and **Analyze**). The URL looks like `https://app.behca.com/ir/{profile-id}` — it always applies to the profile selected in the profile switcher.

At the top of **Incident Reporting**:

- **Status** and **Author** filters — multi-select menus to narrow the list by stage or who filed the report.
- **Create New IR** — starts a new draft.
- **Archived** — toggles the archived list. Archived IRs leave the default list; you can **Unarchive** from the archived view when allowed.

The list shows one **row** per report: reported date and time, incident type, a short description preview, author, and status. Reports waiting on your review appear under **Needs your review**. Each row has action icons — **View**, **Edit**, **Review**, download **PDF** (when completed), or **Archive**.

## Who can do what

- **Creating an IR** — **Create IRs**. Managers and Billing users have this automatically. Staff and Guests need it turned on for them on **Manage Team**, plus access to the profile and a plan that includes incident reporting.
- **Reviewers** — the people you check as **Responsible Parties** on the report. The list is Managers, Billing users, and Staff or Guests with **Review MAR/IRs** who can access that profile. **Review MAR/IRs** without **Create IRs** is review-only — they can sign off but not file new reports.
- The **creator of an IR can also be one of its reviewers** — BEHCA doesn't stop you. If your organization wants a separate person to review, make that part of your own process.

## Notifications

When an IR is submitted, BEHCA notifies:

- **Managers**, **Billing users**, and Staff or Guests with **Review MAR/IRs** — the same submission alert (email, push, and in-app bell). Managers and Billing users are notified for every profile in the organization. Staff and Guests only if they can access that profile (through a Group or guest share).
- The **Responsible Parties** you selected — a separate **review required** alert. If someone is both on that list and has **Review MAR/IRs**, they get the review alert only, not both.

BEHCA does **not** send notifications to external parties (family, GP, regulators) — that's outside the app and up to your organization's own process.

## What's not in an IR

- **Routine behavior tracking** belongs in [Daily tracking overview](https://support.behca.com/hc/behca-support/articles/daily-tracking-overview), not IRs. Don't open an IR every time someone yells.
- **Medication administration** goes in [What MAR is](https://support.behca.com/hc/behca-support/articles/what-mar-is), not IRs. Open an IR only when there's an actual error.
- **Staff complaints about coworkers** (workplace/HR matters) go through HR, not IRs. **But** if the concern is about harm, abuse, or neglect of a person you support — even involving a staff member — that **is** an incident report (and will be handled as a restricted one).

## What the activity log records

Each IR keeps an activity log, but it's about the **review lifecycle**, not every keystroke. It records things like when the report was created and submitted, **who was added or removed as a reviewer**, reviewer feedback, and when the review was completed. It does **not** track field-by-field edits (it won't say "Jane changed field 2").

## Common questions

- **Can I retroactively file an IR for a past incident?** — Yes. Set the **Date and time of incident** to when it actually happened.
- **Do I need to upload photos for every IR?** — No. Photos and videos are optional, but recommended for injuries and property damage.
- **Are IRs visible to families/Guests?** — Depends on your organization's settings and the Guest's permissions. Talk to your Manager.
- **What if I made the IR by mistake?** — You can **archive** it (this works even for drafts). IRs can't be deleted from the app — archiving moves it off your active board while keeping the record.

## Related articles

- [Creating an incident report](https://support.behca.com/hc/behca-support/articles/creating-an-incident-report)
- [Submitting and the review workflow](https://support.behca.com/hc/behca-support/articles/submitting-and-the-review-workflow)
- [Configuring incident types](https://support.behca.com/hc/behca-support/articles/configuring-incident-types)