Incident Templates

What Are Templates

Templates are pre-filled incident forms that save time when documenting recurring types of incidents. A template can include a default title pattern, category, location, description outline, and any other fields you commonly fill in the same way.

When someone uses a template to create a new incident, the pre-filled fields appear automatically. The reporter can then adjust any details before submitting.

When to Use Templates

Templates work best for incident types your church handles regularly:

• Playground injuries: Pre-fill the location, category, and a description outline covering what happened, first aid provided, and parent notification
• Parking lot incidents: Pre-set the location and include prompts for vehicle descriptions and weather conditions
• Sunday service medical events: Pre-fill category, typical location, and a checklist of response steps
• Property damage reports: Include standard fields for estimated cost, photos needed, and maintenance follow-up

Templates ensure consistent, thorough reporting even when the person documenting the incident is new or under stress.

Creating a Template

Role required: Reviewer or above.

There are two ways to create a template:

• From scratch: Go to Settings > Templates and click New Template. Fill in the fields you want pre-populated and give the template a clear name
• From an existing incident: Open any incident, click the actions menu, and select Save as Template. The incident's category, location, ministry, and description structure are copied into a new template

Give each template a descriptive name like "Playground Injury" or "Parking Lot Incident" so reporters can quickly find the right one.

Using a Template

When creating a new incident, you'll see a Use Templateoption at the top of the form. Select a template from the list, and the form fields populate with the template's defaults.

• All pre-filled fields are fully editable—change anything that doesn't apply
• Required fields still need to be completed before submitting
• The template used is noted in the incident's metadata for reference

Managing Templates

Manage your organization's templates from Settings> Templates:

• Edit any template to update its pre-filled fields
• Archive templates that are no longer needed (archived templates won't appear in the template picker but are preserved for records)
• Reorder templates to put the most commonly used ones at the top