Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Reportable Event Policy (FR-A-109) PDF

TO: ALL PALM BEACH COUNTY FIRE RESCUE PERSONNEL FROM: MICHAEL C. MACKEY FIRE RESCUE ADMINISTRATOR PREPARED BY: FIRE RESCUE PPM COMMITTEE SUBJECT: REPORTABLE EVENT PPM #:...

TO: ALL PALM BEACH COUNTY FIRE RESCUE PERSONNEL FROM: MICHAEL C. MACKEY FIRE RESCUE ADMINISTRATOR PREPARED BY: FIRE RESCUE PPM COMMITTEE SUBJECT: REPORTABLE EVENT PPM #: FR-A-109 ISSUE DATE EFFECTIVE DATE October 01, 2012 July 06, 2018 PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to define what events qualify as a Reportable Events and to describe the mandatory notification and investigation procedures for Reportable Events. UPDATES: Future updates to this PPM are the responsibility of the Deputy Chief of Administration, in conjunction with the PPM Committee, under the authority of the Fire Rescue Administrator. AUTHORITY:  Fire Rescue Administrator, as may be amended. SCOPE: This policy applies to all Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel and reservists. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A: Reportable Event POLICY: All Fire Rescue personnel shall be familiar with events that qualify as a Reportable Event and shall follow the mandatory notification and investigation procedures described below. PROCEDURE: 1. During the course of daily operations, events can occur that are unusual, unexpected or atypical of normal operations. Some of these are potentially high-risk events for Fire Rescue personnel, Fire Rescue and the public. It is important that these events be well defined and that procedures for their handling are consistently followed. 2. There are two categories of Reportable Events: a. Immediately Reportable Event (IRE) b. Delayed Reportable Event (DRE) 3. This policy does not replace other policies that contain reporting requirements. The procedures in this policy are in-addition to those that are outlined in other policies. FR-A-109/Page 1 of 4 4. IMMEDIATELY REPORTABLE EVENT (IRE): a. IRE Defined: An event that occurs anytime; to include emergency calls, training, public education or any other emergency or non-emergency situation. Immediately Reportable Event examples include: i. Any Fire Rescue personnel action or inaction that caused harm to a citizen, patient or Fire Rescue personnel. ii. Any equipment failure that caused harm to a citizen, patient or Fire Rescue personnel. iii. Any on-duty event that is illegal, unethical or immoral or any accusation thereof. iv. Any event that has the potential for litigation against Fire Rescue. v. Any event that could be considered politically sensitive or have political ramifications. vi. Any event that has the potential to cause the media to scrutinize Fire Rescue. b. Notification and Investigation Procedure: i. Any Fire Rescue personnel who witnesses or becomes aware of an IRE must notify their supervisor as soon as possible while not compromising the safety of Fire Rescue personnel, patient or public. ii. For expediency, an IRE notification shall initially be by telephone or face-to- face and shall be forwarded in this manner through the chain-of-command to the level of Battalion Chief (with later notification to higher levels as described below). If the next level supervisor(s) is not immediately available, then the Battalion Chief may be contacted directly. If necessary, the Fire Operations Officer (F.O.O.) may be utilized to make the necessary contacts which may include contacting the nearest available Battalion Chief. iii. Personnel involved in an IRE may put their unit(s) out of service if deemed necessary by the Battalion Chief (or equivalent supervisor). Personnel may remain at the IRE location as long as it does not compromise the safety of Fire Rescue personnel, patient or public. iv. Personnel shall secure any gear, equipment, vehicles, medications, packaging, supplies or any other material related to the IRE. Personnel shall leave all items as undisturbed as is practical until the IRE is investigated and pictures can be taken. v. The Battalion Chief (or equivalent supervisor) shall immediately initiate a preliminary investigation at the IRE site with the involved personnel. The Battalion Chief shall obtain statements from personnel, witnesses and, if applicable, from the harmed person. The Battalion Chief shall obtain contact information from any witnesses or non-Fire Rescue persons involved. The Battalion Chief shall make sketches of the scene as necessary. The Battalion Chief shall take pictures of the event scene and take pictures of any related items described in 4.b.iv above. The Battalion Chief shall take possession of and maintain security of the items described in 4.b.iv above. The Battalion Chief shall ensure that replacement items are obtained and personnel are put back into service as soon as practical after the investigation. vi. By the end of the shift, the Battalion Chief shall notify the appropriate District Chief. Contact shall be by phone when possible and then by follow-up email to provide any additional investigative material as described in 4.b.iv and 4.b.v FR-A-109/Page 2 of 4  above. The District Chief shall deliver all investigative material to the Division Chief of Operations as soon as possible during normal business hours. vii. By the end of the shift, the Battalion Chief shall complete and submit the Immediately Reportable Event form located on SharePoint. SharePoint shall automatically forward the form to the: 1. Division Chief of Operations 2. District Chiefs 3. Internal Affairs Officer 4. Litigation Officer 5. EMS CQI Officer 6. Fire CQI Officer 7. Safety Committee viii. The Division Chief of Operations shall initiate a meeting with the Deputy Chief of Operations and involved supervisory staff to ascertain the need for further investigation. This may include, but is not limited to any or all of the following: 1. Completing an additional investigation (including the examination of any submitted items from 4.b.iv and 4.b.v above). 2. Initiating a Notice of Formal Investigation. 3. Initiating a CQI analysis. 4. Initiating a Safety Committee investigation. 5. Initiating a criminal investigation. 6. Making required notifications to the State EMS Office. 5. DELAYED REPORTABLE EVENT (DRE): a. DRE Defined: The below definitions are for events that occur at anytime including emergency calls, training, public education or any other emergency or non-emergency situation. i. Any Fire Rescue personnel action or inaction that had the potential to harm a citizen, patient or Fire Rescue personnel but resulted in no harm. ii. Any equipment failure that had the potential to harm a citizen, patient or Fire Rescue personnel but resulted in no harm. b. Notification and Investigation Procedure: i. The same reporting procedure shall be used in a DRE as for the IRE except the Battalion Chief shall use their discretion as to the need for an on-scene investigation. Any items associated with the event as in 4.b.iv and 4.b.v above shall be secured by the Battalion Chief. ii. The Battalion Chief shall notify the appropriate District Chief by email before the end of the shift. iii. The personnel who first reported the event shall be responsible for completing and submitting the Delayed Reportable Event form on SharePoint before the end of the shift. The same personnel shall be automatically notified by SharePoint as noted in 4.b.vii above. iv. The Division Chief of Operations shall initiate a meeting with the involved supervisory staff to ascertain the need for an investigation. This may include, but is not limited to any or all of the following: FR-A-109/Page 3 of 4  1. Completing additional investigation (including the examination of any submitted items from 4.b.iv and 4.b.v above). 2. Initiating a Notice of Formal Investigation. 3. Initiating a CQI analysis. 4. Initiating a Safety Committee investigation. 5. Initiating a criminal investigation. 6. Making required notifications to the State EMS Office. ______________________________ MICHAEL C. MACKEY FIRE RESCUE ADMINISTRATOR Supersession History 1. PPM#FR I-78, issued 10/01/2012 2. PPM#FR I-78, issued 10/31/2012 3. PPM#FR A-109, clerical 03/01/2018 4. PPM#FR A-109, reviewed 07/06/2018 FR-A-109/Page 4 of 4