NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, September 5, 1998

This supplemental edition of the Morning Report deals with submission of
reports in general and incident reports in particular.

SUBMISSIONS

The Morning Report solicits submissions in several areas and carries them in
regularly appearing sections.  The objective is to provide useful information
to the field in a timely manner.  The following criteria for submissions have
been developed:

o     Incidents - Incident reports that appear in the Morning Report follow
      criteria set down by the National Park Service and Department of
      Interior.  These criteria have been in place for at least a decade. 
      The most recent iteration is in the memorandum sent out to all parks
      last week by the Washington Office; the text appears towards the end of
      this edition.  Readers occasionally ask why so many fatalities are
      reported.  The answer is that they are required by these incident
      reporting criteria and are included in the Morning Report because it
      was designed in part to meet the general reporting or information needs
      of a host of interested offices, including operations, safety, public
      affairs, etc.

o     Resource Management and Protection - Significant news and activities in
      natural and cultural resource management, protection and education. 
      This section has been revised to include reports from all divisions and
      all staff, including park rangers involved in resource management,
      protection and education.  Submissions should be of Servicewide
      interest and/or consequence.

o     Park Dispatches - Brief reports from the field on significant and
      newsworthy matters, human interest vignettes, and similar stories not
      reportable as incidents or resource management actions.  This section
      was recently added in response to requests from the field to leaven the
      inevitably gloomy litany of mayhem that comes from incident reports. 
      As with other reports, entries should be of likely interest and/or
      consequence to employees throughout the NPS.

o     Operational Notes - Instructional guidance and information from WASO to
      the field on operational matters.

o     Memoranda - Memoranda from the Directorate to the field on operational
      and personnel matters.

o     Interchange - A forum for sharing practical professional information
      and lessons learned and for offering or soliciting help or support or
      material.  This section has been designed specifically for staff in
      field areas and technical centers.  If you've got some good info or
      need some help, this is the place to share it.

The Morning Report also contains intermittently appearing meeting and
training calendars (alternate Mondays), Congressional updates (Tuesdays), and
a running listing of web sites of use to the field (monthly).  Information
and submissions for each are welcome from all offices and areas.

A note on production: The Morning Report is disseminated daily, with a target
release time of no later than 10 a.m. Eastern.  Due to the editor's other
responsibilities, it's not always possible to include all incident
submissions within 24 hours of their receipt, though every effort is made to
do so.  Space can also be a constraint, as the text buffer for cc:Mail
permits no more than about five full pages of text.  

INCIDENT REPORTING

A memorandum entitled "1998 Incident Reporting Procedures" was signed on
August 26th by Maureen Finnerty, the associate director for park operations
and education, and sent to all superintendents.  The entire text follows;
asterisks are used to indicate page breaks in the formal transmission:


Procedures for reporting significant field incidents have not been
significantly revised this year, but are being reissued again to assure their
broad dissemination, to add some clarifying guidance on reporting, and to
reinforce the importance of their timely communication to this office.  

Dissemination:  This memorandum should be made available to all reporting
parties, including division chiefs, district and subdistrict rangers, and
public affairs officers.  

Reporting:  Please pay particular attention to the first attachment to this
memorandum, which contains a summary of what should be included in each
report and directions on how to submit reports.  Procedural problems have
arisen in both of these areas over recent months.

Timeliness:  Timely submission of all significant reports is important;
immediate reporting of critical incidents is mandatory.  The latter is both a
National Park Service (NPS) and Department of the Interior (DOI) requirement. 
All Level 1 reports are to be called in immediately to the specified numbers,
then followed up with a written report within 3 working days.  There is no
requirement to call in Level 2 reports, but written summaries should be
submitted as soon as possible.  All written reports are to be submitted via
cc:Mail unless there are extenuating circumstances.  In such cases, telefaxes
are the preferred alternative.

As has been noted previously, the NPS continues to have the most effective
and timely incident reporting system in the DOI.  You are to be congratulated
for your diligence in submitting comprehensive and informative reports.  They
have done much to edify literally thousands of people throughout the
Government on the types of incidents that occur in the parks and the kinds of
work that our employees do on a regular basis.

This memorandum supersedes all previous incident reporting instructions,
which should be destroyed.

*****************************************************************************

                                REPORT FORMAT

As far as possible, all reports should contain the following information.
Exceptions are noted.

Subject:          Name or description of incident.
Time and Date:    Time and date of occurrence.
Location:         Brief description of incident location.
Summary:          Brief description of incident.  Attention should be placed
                  on making the report simple, clear and inclusive.  Many
                  reports omit critical information or contain confused
                  narratives.  A simple, chronological narrative works best.
Names/Titles:     First and last names and titles of persons involved if
                  appropriate - both NPS employees and victims.  If victim
                  names must be withheld, please at least specify gender,
                  and, if possible, approximate or specific age.
Status of Case:   What's being done and/or will be done next.  Optional in
                  routine cases.  It's presumed that investigations will
                  always take place when appropriate.  The status is
                  important only in major incidents in which extensive
                  follow-up will occur.
Agencies:         Other Federal, State, local or other agencies involved or
                  to become involved in the incident.  Optional if deemed
                  immaterial to the report.
Media:            The level of media interest and involvement.  Optional in
                  routine incidents.  
Contact:          Name and telephone number of the park person who can be
                  contacted for additional information, or a 24-hour contact
                  number.
Submitter:        The name and title of the person submitting the report,
                  which should appear on the report itself (not in a cover
                  cc:Mail message).

There are a number of important considerations to keep in mind when preparing
reports.  All of the following are based on problems that have cropped up
repeatedly over the ten years that the current incident reporting system has
been in place.

o     Reporting parties should make a concerted effort to keep reports
      simple, clear, coherent and straightforward, and, above all, to avoid
      jargon, slang, euphemisms, pejoratives, acronyms, and specialized
      terminology.
o     Reporting parties should be judicious regarding inclusion of names of
      law enforcement rangers and investigators and/or confidential
      investigative or enforcement techniques in incident reports.  It is not
      possible to assure that the information included in incident      
      summaries that appear in the Morning Report will not receive wider
      dissemination on  Internet or other telecommunications media once
      transmitted to the field.
o     All reports are considered to be public information unless otherwise
      indicated.  Reports that are wholly or partly confidential and meant
      for internal review in Ranger Activities only should be so marked!  

REPORTING

Each of the following Level 1 and Level 2 reporting SOPs explains how to
submit reports.  The basic rules are nonetheless worth reiterating:

o     Level 1 reports and some particularly significant Level 2 reports are
      called immediately to Shenandoah NP dispatch, then followed up with
      written reports sent via cc:Mail within three working days.
o     Level 2 reports are submitted via cc:Mail within three working days.
o     All Level 1 and 2 written reports are submitted to Dennis Burnett, Bob
      Marriott and Chris Andress in WASO Ranger Activities and to Bill
      Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA.  
o     Copies of each should also be sent to your regular regional/system
      office contacts.

*****************************************************************************

LEVEL 1 REPORTS

Report immediately by phone; follow-up on cc:Mail within three working days. 

o     Call Shenandoah dispatch at 1-540-999-3422.  
o     If Shenandoah dispatch can not be reached, call one of the following
      people at the specified pager numbers in the order listed: 

      Dennis Burnett                            1-888-992-5811
      Bob Marriott                              1-888-992-6604    
      Chris Andress                             1-888-992-6604
      
o     Enter call back telephone number and press pound (#).  Confirm message
      and press #.
o     If message is incorrect, cancel by pressing asterisk (*), then start
      again.
o     Submit follow-up reports via cc:Mail to Dennis Burnett, Bob Marriott
      and Chris Andress in WASO Ranger Activities and Bill Halainen at
      Delaware Water Gap NRA.  Reports should also be sent to your regular
      regional/system office contacts.

_____________________________________________________________________________


1.1   Employee Fatalities: All employee deaths from any cause, whether on
      duty or off duty.

1.2   High Property Damage: Any incident resulting in property damage in
      excess of $100,000.

1.3   Officer Fatality or Life-Threatening Injury:  The death or life-
      threatening injury to any law enforcement employee while in the
      performance of his or her duties.

1.4   Serious Crimes: Serious crimes which occur in any park area.

1.5   Drug Incidents: Major or unusual drug seizures or drug-related arrests
      in which the circumstances, value, and/or the amount of the seizure
      could attract media or political 
      attention.

1.6   Political Officials: Serious incidents, major events or serious
      accidents involving senior political officials of state, Federal or
      foreign governments or their immediate families.

1.7   Terrorist Activity: Actual, attempted or planned terrorist activity,
      sabotage or other hostile acts against NPS property.

1.8   Significant LE Events: Significant law enforcement events other than
      planned special events which have required or may require the dispatch
      of specially-trained teams to augment normal enforcement capabilities.

1.9   Disasters: Major natural or man-caused disasters which cause
      significant injuries, resource or property damage to or impact on
      visitor use of an NPS-administered area, including major structural
      fires, dam failures, floods and storms. Wildfires are excluded; they
      should be reported to the NPS Fire Director in Boise.

1.10  Weapons Discharge: The discharge of a weapon by an employee toward
      another individual or any discharge of a weapon at any employee.

1.11  Use of Force: Any use of force by a law enforcement officer which
      results in serious injury or death to another individual.

*****************************************************************************

                               LEVEL 2 REPORTS

All incidents under these criteria are to be reported to WASO Ranger
Activities via cc:Mail within three working days of the incident's
occurrence.  Incidents of exceptional significance - Level 2+ incidents,
i.e., those that have or will likely draw major media coverage - should be
reported immediately following the procedures for Level 1 reports.

Reports should be sent via cc:Mail to Chris Andress, Bob Marriott and Dennis
Burnett in WASO Ranger Activities and Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap
NRA.  Copies should also be sent to your regular regional/system office
contact.

_____________________________________________________________________________


2.1   Visitor Fatalities: Visitor fatalities, except by natural causes. 
      Heart attacks are not reportable incidents unless they involve other
      Level 1 or Level 2 reporting criteria.

2.2   Employee Injuries: Serious injury to any employee, either on or off
      duty.  For purposes of this reporting system, serious injuries are
      defined as those which require advanced life support and/or lead to
      overnight hospitalization.

2.3   Employee Arrest: Arrest or detention of any employee on felony charges,
      regardless of arresting or detaining agency.

2.4   ARPA Incidents: Any incident which will likely lead to an Archeological
      Resource Protection Act (ARPA) prosecution.

2.5   Wildlife Incidents: Wildlife attacks or incidents which result in
      serious injury (the definition is the same as in 2.2) or death to
      persons.

2.6   Drug Incidents: Drug seizures in which the value of the drugs exceeds
      $5,000, or major drug cases which are investigated by other agencies
      but which were initiated by the NPS or in which the NPS assisted.

2.7   Missing Persons: Confirmed missing persons where foul play is
      suspected.

2.8   Felony Arrests: Multiple felony arrests.

2.9   Demonstrations: Demonstrations or other hostile acts (planned,
      purported or actual) on or adjacent to parks.

2.10  Malicious Destruction: Significant malicious damage to cultural or
      natural resources.

2.11  Theft and Burglary: Monetary losses in excess of $10,000 through theft
      or burglary (excluding vehicle thefts).

2.12  Search and Rescue: Major searches and/or rescues, generally defined as
      any SAR requiring a significant call-out of resources or a prolonged or
      difficult search.

2.13  Aircraft Accidents: Aircraft accidents which are reportable under OAS
      criteria or involve military, civilian or non-NPS owned or contracted
      aircraft.

2.14  International Events: Any significant event involving foreign nationals
      or international cooperation.
 
2.15  Arson: Any incident of known or suspected arson.

2.16  Poaching Incidents: Any significant animal, plant, mineral,
      paleontolgical or other park natural resource poaching incident.

2.17  Multiple Injuries: In-patient hospitalization of five or more NPS
      personnel or non-NPS personnel in any single incident.

2.18  Structural Fires: Structural fires involving any NPS-owned property.

2.19  Special Events: Any event in a park which requires significant
      mobilization of resources, attracts substantial media attention, and/or
      has particular relevance to the National Park System or Service or its
      cultural, historical and natural assets.

                                *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests
pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your servicing hub
coordinator.

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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