Is the NMIR effective?

[Josh_Murphy]

Has anyone ever had any effective outcomes using the non medical incident reports through FIRST?

[Nate_Laverdure]

Yes, it can be effective.

Some tips to maximize effectiveness:

• If you are in an emergent situation, stop going down this path, seek emergency assistance instead. NMIRs are for post-event reporting and won’t stop ongoing harm.
• Regardless of whether you use the web form or the paper form, make sure you save a copy of your NMIR. Don’t send FIRST your only copy.
• Make sure you use other reporting avenues in addition to the NMIR. In fact, use every reporting avenue that is available to you. Report the incident to RDs, event managers, volunteer coordinators, FTAs, your school administrators, your parents and mentors, your student leadership, your counterparts at other teams, your neighbor, your mailman. Some PDOs, like FIRST Chesapeake, have opened their own official “supplementary” reporting channel because they don’t have timely access to incident reports that are sent to HQ alone.
• Don’t wait for an official resolution, tell FIRST how you will be changing your behavior in response to the incident.
• If you can, demonstrate a pattern of incidents and past attempts to resolve.
• The paper form has a line on the top that says “SUBMIT WITHIN 48 HOURS OF INCIDENT”. Understand that this instruction does not apply to you the incident reporter, it applies to the staffers at the Pit Admin desk who must pass along the report to FIRST HQ. Your mandate is just to report the incident as soon as possible.