Training › For care providers › Care fundamentals

This lesson is about the moment a visit stops being routine. Something has happened. Sylvie has fallen, or Mr Khalil has taken his pills twice by mistake, or a folded envelope of cash is gone from the side table. You have to decide, fast, two things: what kind of event is this, and who do you call first.

Incident or emergency

The first call you make depends on which one you are looking at. They are not the same.

An incident

An incident is something that went wrong but life is not at risk in the next minute. The person is conscious, breathing, and oriented. The harm, if there is any, is something you can describe but not something that needs an ambulance right now.

• A fall where the person is alert and not in severe pain.
• A medication mistake (a missed dose, a double dose) where the person is not symptomatic.
• A missing item, or a sharp argument with a family member during the visit.
• Property damage, a broken cup, a small kitchen fire that you put out.

An emergency

An emergency is when life is at risk in the next minute. The person needs help that is not in your hands.

• Loss of consciousness, even briefly.
• Chest pain, sudden trouble breathing, signs of a stroke (face drooping, slurred speech, one-side weakness).
• A severe fall: head impact, suspected broken bone, severe bleeding, the person cannot be moved.
• An immediate threat to safety, including a fire you cannot put out, or a person in the home in crisis.

Three paths, one decision

Once you know what kind of event you have, the path is short. Use the right one the first time and you save the family fifteen minutes of confusion at the worst moment of their week.

Advocate, for care concerns

The advocate is the family's coordinator and your first line of support for anything to do with care. Personal phone numbers are never exchanged, so you do not call your advocate directly. Email support@icariatogether.com and say the concern is for your advocate when:

• An incident has happened on your visit and the family needs to be looped in calmly.
• You have a worry about the older adult that the family may not see yet (mood change, weight loss, the home is starting to feel unsafe at the current level of support).
• You and the family disagree about something on the visit and you want a third voice in the room.

iCaria Support, for platform concerns

The iCaria Support is iCaria internal staff. They handle the platform, the payment, the policy. There is no iCaria phone line for providers. Email iCaria Support at support@icariatogether.com when:

• The app is not letting you tap completed on a booking.
• A payment has not arrived or has arrived in the wrong amount.
• You have a question about a platform rule, a 1099, a tax form, or your provider profile.

Emergency services, for life-threatening events

911 in Canada and in the United States. You call them first, before anyone else, when life is at risk in the next minute. There is no SOS button in your provider app, and nothing in it is an emergency alert. Once 911 is on the way, open the visit and tap Safety Issue: Contact Family to tell the family, then Log a safety concern. If you cannot safely continue, tap "Can't complete this visit" on the visit screen, choose the reason, add a note for the family, and tap "Stop visit and notify family". "Stop this visit" in the Safety Issue panel opens the same page. A logged concern goes by email and to their portal to the household's Family Advocate, or to the iCaria team when there is no advocate, and never to the family; it is not an emergency alert. Then email support@icariatogether.com the same hour with where you are, what happened and who you have told.

The incident note, written today

An incident is not closed until the note is written. The note is short, plain, and written the same day, before you leave the booking screen in the app. Memory fades faster than you think it will. By Wednesday morning, the bruise on Sylvie's wrist is harder to remember than it was on Tuesday night.

Write the note in the visit notes field on the completed booking. The Notes field is your own record: nothing in it notifies anyone. Send the same facts by email to support@icariatogether.com the same day, so iCaria and the advocate see them. Three short paragraphs is enough:

• What happened. Sylvie stood from the chair on her own, her right hand slipped off the walker grip, she landed on her right hip on the kitchen linoleum at about 10:45 am. She did not lose consciousness. She was alert and oriented.
• What you did. You stayed with her, checked for severe pain, helped her sit upright against the cabinet. You logged a safety concern on the visit, messaged the family through Contact Family, and emailed iCaria support so her advocate Naima could follow up. You stayed for the rest of the booked hour and made tea. You did not call 911 because she was alert, refused, and her vitals looked steady.
• What you flagged. The walker brake on the right side is loose. The kitchen rug at the doorway slips. The advocate should follow up with the family this week.

Three short paragraphs. Plain language. Written the same day. That is the note. The Notes field keeps it as your own record. The email to support@icariatogether.com is what iCaria Support and the advocate read. Marcus in the office can pull the note in five seconds if a question comes up next month.

Finding this again Open Training from your portal any time to come back to this module. A knowledge quiz follows, and you re-take it each year when you renew your certification.