Report an incident

Incidents happen. A scraped knee on the playground, a bite in the toddler room, an allergic reaction to an unexpected food. Every state requires you to document each one. Filing the incident report also triggers parent notification.

File the report

1. Open the NestliCare app on your staff account.
2. Tap the Dashboard tab (bottom nav).
3. In the Quick Actions grid, tap Incident.
4. The Report Incident form opens.

Screenshot pendingReport Incident form in the staff app

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1. 1Screen title — 'Report Incident'
2. 2Child * — pick the child involved (single-select)
3. 3Incident Type — Injury, Fall, Bite, Scratch, Bump, Allergic Reaction, Behavioral, Medical, Other
4. 4Description * — 'What happened?' Multi-line, required
5. 5Body Location — 'e.g., Left knee, Right arm' (optional but very helpful for licensing)
6. 6Action Taken — 'What was done to help?' (what first aid, did you call the parent, etc.)

5. Fill in:

   • Child — pick from your room's roster
   • Incident Type — the category
   • Description — what happened, in plain language
   • Body Location — if applicable ("left knee," "under right eye")
   • Action Taken — first aid applied, who was called
   • Photos — up to 5, for injuries or the environment (optional)
   • Witnesses — names, comma-separated (optional)

6. Tap Submit.

You'll see an alert: "Incident Reported — The incident has been recorded and the parent has been notified."

Who gets notified

• The child's parents get a push notification immediately (and email if they've enabled it)
• Your center admin sees the incident in their dashboard's incidents report
• The incident lands in the child's feed for future reference

Parents are expected to acknowledge the incident by signing it in their app — that's on them, but it closes the loop.

What to describe in the description

Be specific and factual. Avoid judgment or speculation:

• Good: "Eli tripped on the edge of the rug while running to the block area. He landed on his left knee and started crying. No cut but a small scrape was visible."
• Not great: "Eli was running around like usual and hurt himself."

State licensing inspectors may read these reports. Clear, factual descriptions protect your center.

Body location matters

For any physical injury, specifying the body location is critical. "Scrape on knee" is not the same as "scrape above left eye." The more precise, the easier to defend in a dispute.

Photos — when and when not

Do photograph:

• Visible injury (cut, bruise, scrape) — parents will ask
• Environment where it happened if it might need fixing (loose tile, broken fence)

Don't photograph:

• The child's full face in distress (dignity)
• Anything that could identify another child in the background
• The bite mark in graphic detail — document location with words if the child is upset

Photos upload with a spinner; retry if an upload fails. Photos are encrypted and shared only with the child's approved parents + your center's staff.

What happens after you submit

On your side:

• Incident is logged with your user ID attached
• You'll see it on the child's feed and in your room's incident history

On the admin side:

• The incident appears in Reports → Incidents
• Status starts as Open
• An admin follows up with the parent if anything more is needed
• Eventually the incident is moved to Closed once parent has signed

Don't try to close the incident yourself — that's an admin-side action.

Common scenarios

Minor scrape

• Type: Injury
• Body Location: specific
• Description: what happened + that first aid was applied
• Action Taken: ice, bandaid, hug, returned to play
• Photos: one clear shot of the scrape

Bite (toddler room)

• Type: Bite
• Body Location: specific
• Description: describe the event, not intentions
• Action Taken: separated the kids, ice, comforted
• Photos: location of mark, not facial features
• Don't name the biter in the injured child's report — licensing rules treat them as separate incidents. File each biter's report separately.

Allergic reaction

• Type: Allergic Reaction
• Description: what was served, what happened, timing
• Action Taken: medication given (if authorized), 911 if called, parent called
• Photos: rash/hives if visible

Troubleshooting

Child isn't in the picker. You're not assigned to their room. Ask an admin to add you temporarily or have them file the report.

"Submit" is greyed out. Required fields missing — usually Child, Incident Type, and Description. Fill all three.

Photo won't upload. Switch to wifi and retry. If a photo is stuck in a failed state, tap the X to remove and try a different one.

Submitted the wrong child. You can't edit after submit. Contact your admin — they can correct the record and preserve the audit trail.

Parent says they didn't get the notification. Confirm they have push notifications enabled for the NestliCare app (iOS Settings → NestliCare → Notifications). Also confirm the incident wasn't filed as "internal only" — the default is to notify.

Teachers filed the same incident twice. Happens when two teachers both saw the event and filed separately. Tell the admin — they can mark one as duplicate and keep the primary on record.