This deals with incident, incident type, categories, when to report, how to report etc.

1. Prepared By:
Ms. Reshma Francis

2. WHAT IS AN INCIDENT?
 Incident: It is an unplanned event within the
scope of this procedure that causes, or has the
potential to cause, an injury or illness and
damage to equipment, buildings, plant or the
natural environment.
 In a health care facility, such as
a hospital, nursing home, or assisted living,
an incident report or accident report is a form
that is filled out in order to record details of an
unusual event that occurs at the facility, such as
an injury to a patient.

3. TYPES OF INCIDENT
 Near Miss
 No Harm
 Adverse event
 Sentinel events

4. Near miss
 A Near Miss is an unplanned event that did
not result in injury, illness, or damage – but
had the potential to do so.
 Only a fortunate break in the chain of
events prevented an injury, fatality or
damage; in other words, a miss that was
nonetheless very near.
 Sometimes a medication is prescribed
without considering the patient's allergies or
potential for significant drug interactions.
 Fungus in the IV bottle detected just in time

5. No Harm
 No harm means the incident occurred and
the patient was exposed, but no harm
resulted.
 Eg:A blood transfusion being given to the
wrong patient but the patient was unharmed
because the blood was compatible.
 Medication error causing no harm
 Sudden equipment failure but no damage
done

6.  Adverse Event
 An unexpected incident related to system or
process failure which caused damage that was
not serious / lasting.
 Housekeeping staff wash floor – forget to leave
warning sign – patient slips and falls
 Dietary staff provides full diet meal to patient on
clear fluids
 Patient in isolation – proper signage not posted
on door – housekeeper enters room without
proper attire/precautions
 Theft of patient’s / hospital’s property.
 Slip/Trip/Fall causing minor injuries.
 Plaster falling on the patient minor injuries.

7. Sentinel Event
 A sentinel event is a Patient Safety Event that
reaches a patient and results in
Death, Permanent harm, severe temporary
harm and intervention required to sustain life
 Medication error causing death/ severe
complications.
 Wrong site/ wrong patient/ wrong surgery
 Instrument/sponge left in the surgical site by
mistake.
 Plaster falling on the head causing death.

8. Incident Category
 Medication error
 Transcription error
 Distribution error
 Needle prick
 Prescription error
 Administration error
 Fall risk
 Others

9. Purpose Of Incident
reporting
 The purpose of the incident report is
to document the exact details of the occurrence
while they are fresh in the minds of those who
witnessed the event.
 This information may be useful in the future
when dealing with liability issues stemming from
the incident.
 To take corrective and preventive actions.
 To find out the Root cause of the incident
 To prevent such an incident in future by
providing proper training.

11. When to report?
 according to health care guidelines, the report
must be filled out as soon as possible following
the incident (but after the situation has been
stabilized).
 This way, the details written in the report are as
accurate as possible.
 Most incident reports that are written involve
accidents with patients, such as patient falls.
 But most facilities will also document an
incident in which a staff member or visitor is
injured.

12. HOW TO REPORT AN
INCIDENT?
 Obtain IR forms
 Write your name
 Select incident category
 Select incident type
 Write Date & time of incident
 Write in detail about the incident
 Submit to the concerned person