Accounts and department licenses
Use your IncidentNorth account to sign in. Department administrators manage department invitations and membership through Account. A department key activates an eligible browser/device; it does not replace your personal sign-in.
If your license enforces a device limit, activate each new browser using the department key. Browser profiles count separately, even on the same computer. An administrator can revoke unused activations to free capacity. User limits and device limits are separate. Some pilot departments may not yet enforce activation limits.
Platform owners use Owner Administration to create departments and issue or manage licenses, user/device limits, and expiration. Department administration is available only to authorized administrators. Keep activation keys private. Incident PIN guests are a separate safety-sharing route and do not consume a normal department device activation.
Start an incident
- Open IncidentNorth and sign in if prompted. Complete department activation when required.
- Enter the incident name, address, and incident type. Fire incidents also display an incident strategy selector.
- On Units, select a saved apparatus or enter a unit identifier, check the personnel count, and add the unit. The incident timer starts when the first unit is added.
- Set the unit’s assignment, status, and location. Add more units as they arrive.
- Use Dashboard for the incident summary, Unit Overview for the larger assignment workspace, and the specialist tabs as needed.
A saved unit button turns green with a checkmark after that unit has been added. Selecting a saved name fills the entry form; adding it places it in the incident. Duplicate unit identifiers are blocked, including differences in letter case.
Dashboard and navigation
The default tab order is Dashboard, Unit Overview, Units, Accountability, Safety, Satellite View, Benchmarks, and Flowcharts. Triage appears for Mass Casualty and Active Shooter incidents; CAN appears for Natural Disaster incidents. Your saved tab visibility and order can change this arrangement.
Click applicable summary counts to see their breakdown. Dashboard warnings identify affected units. A PAR warning opens Accountability; a MAYDAY warning opens Unit Overview. Hazard entries show the hazard and location and open Safety. The command log appears at the bottom of the Dashboard.
Click any unit assignment card on Dashboard to open that unit on Units. You can also focus a card and press Enter or Space. Drag handles continue to reorder units. Unit Overview provides more room for assignments. Click a unit to open its card on Units. Drag unit handles to reorder units; in the two-column view, read down the left column and then down the right. Supervisor groups remain together. Unassigned, on-deck, and rehab units have separate visible groupings.
Units, assignments, and locations
Each unit card holds its personnel count, assignment, status, and location. Personnel can be edited after adding the unit. Requested or en-route resources are tracked separately from units counted on scene.
Status buttons and quick assignment buttons are separate banks. An assignment shortcut fills the assignment selector; click the selected shortcut again to unassign the unit. All assignment choices remain available across incident types and appear alphabetically. You can enter a custom assignment as needed.
A unit without an assignment displays Unassigned instead of a green Active designation. Command, Safety, Accountability, and supervisor functions receive subtle emphasis, with Command most prominent. On a command or supervisor card, select the units reporting to that supervisor. Reporting units appear beneath that supervisor with an indent. Units with the same assignment can group together while preserving different supervisor relationships.
Use A, B, C, or D for Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, or Delta Side. Interior and Exterior are buttons too. Enter a custom location when a side designation is insufficient. For Natural Disaster incidents, assigned CAN locations also populate unit work locations on Units, Accountability, and Unit Overview.
Accountability and PAR
Use Accountability to check units and personnel on scene, assignments, and locations. Its assignment dropdown fits the longest option, within the available screen width. Click applicable summary boxes for the underlying units. Request a PAR, then record each unit as confirmed or having a problem. Resolve outstanding entries before ending the PAR.
Ending a PAR starts the next 20-minute reminder. The timer sits above Request PAR. On mobile, the request area is positioned near the top for quick access. A timer is a reminder; it does not confirm personnel automatically.
MAYDAY and LUNAR
- Activate MAYDAY and identify the affected unit.
- Fill in LUNAR: Location, Unit/callsign, Name/crew, Assignment, and Resources needed. Entries save automatically and remain editable on the MAYDAY screen.
- Select responding units. Suggested candidates include unassigned units, on-deck units, RIT, and staging resources. Confirm availability before assigning them.
- Add notes as events develop. Resolve the MAYDAY when appropriate.
While active, the affected unit is identified on Dashboard, Units, Unit Overview, and Safety. Its card pulses to draw attention. The Dashboard MAYDAY warning link opens Unit Overview, where clicking the unit opens its detailed card on Units. LUNAR details remain with the unit while its MAYDAY is active.
Safety hazards and obstacles
Add a hazard with a description, side or custom location, and Interior or Exterior when applicable. Reported by can be selected from units on scene or entered as a custom unit. Record additional notes as information changes.
Use All and the other summary filters to review hazards. Mark a hazard mitigated when addressed; reopen it if the problem returns. Dashboard hazard summaries link back to Safety. Active MAYDAY information also appears on this tab. Include safety information in the incident export before clearing the incident.
Natural Disaster: CAN reports
Choose Natural Disaster to open CAN: Conditions, Actions, Needs. Create one report for a location. Select a condition such as power lines down, trees down, flooding, structure damage, fire, injured persons, or road issues, or enter your own condition. Record actions, needs, and who reported it, and assign one or more units.
| Field | How it works |
|---|---|
| Urgency | Low, Moderate, High, or Extreme. Extreme reports receive additional emphasis. |
| Reported | Records when the problem was entered. |
| Working | Records the start of work and displays a pulsing Working designation. |
| Mitigated | Records completion and displays a green checkmark. |
Reports sort by urgency and then reported time. Click summary counts to see the matching reports. The Excel export includes statuses and timestamps; completed jobs include total job time. CAN uses a report list rather than map pins.
Triage
Mass Casualty and Active Shooter incidents display Triage. This production edition records aggregate category counts, rather than individual patient names or notes. Update the category totals as information changes and use Export Counts CSV to download the totals. Use your department’s designated patient documentation system for individual records.
Benchmarks, maps, and flowcharts
Benchmarks: Check a benchmark when completed to record its time. Use the benchmark entry box to add an individual benchmark, or use Setup to save your benchmark template. Save My Setup adds new names to the current incident while retaining completed checks. Replace Current Benchmarks explicitly replaces the current list.
Satellite View: Use the incident address or a location search. Device location requires browser permission. Map imagery requires an internet connection and does not provide live unit tracking.
Flowcharts: Select Edit Chart to change its title, category, notes, and steps. Add, remove, or reorder steps and save the chart. New Chart creates a custom chart; custom charts can be deleted. The standard chart can be restored. Edited charts are included in incident data exports.
Save your preferred setup
Open Setup to save your display name, commonly used apparatus names, default personnel counts, benchmarks, and assignment choices. Enter one saved apparatus name per line, then set its personnel count in the box beside the name. Leave the count blank if you prefer to enter it when adding the unit.
Use the status and quick assignment editors to add labels, change their order, choose visibility, and select incident types where they appear. These are separate button banks. Default quick assignments include IC, Primary Search, FA, Water Supply, RIT, Ventilation, Accountability, Safety, and Rehab.
Reorder or hide available top tabs in Setup. Save My Setup to retain your choices. Keep the same account when signing in again so your saved preferences remain associated with you. Shared incident guests do not receive the owner’s Setup controls; the shared incident uses the host’s layout.
Installation and offline use
Open the app online first and complete any required sign-in or activation. Use Install IncidentNorth in Setup, your browser’s install option, or Add to Home Screen on supported mobile browsers. Installed copies use the same web app; installation alone does not activate a department license.
The app caches its interface and locally saved incident state. Previously prepared devices can continue supported local work when connectivity drops. Offline use depends on the stored session and any current license verification; a fresh device must be prepared online. Test the intended device and browser offline before relying on it in the field.
Other devices will not receive your changes while you are offline. Maps, new sign-ins, new activation, PIN sharing, and cloud services require internet access. Reconnect and check the save/sync indicator before switching devices or ending a cloud incident. Do not assume a local copy is a cloud backup.
Export, end, and reset
On Dashboard, use Export Incident for incident data and Download PDF for a printable incident report. The command log also has export and print controls. CAN provides its own Excel export; Triage provides its own CSV export. Check downloaded reports and keep them in your department’s approved records location.
End Incident is at the bottom of Dashboard. It stops incident timing, records the end, and closes shared access. Retain or export the report before resetting. For a cloud incident, reconnect so the final state can be saved successfully.
| Reset choice | Benchmark/setup source for the new incident |
|---|---|
| Keep list | Retains the current benchmark list and current status-button configuration. |
| My template | Uses your saved benchmark and status-button preferences. |
| IncidentNorth default | Uses the standard defaults. |
Reset clears the current incident’s units, hazards, log, and timers. It is different from ending an incident. Export before reset.
Common questions
- A saved unit is green. Can I add it again?
- It is already in this incident. Edit its existing card instead. Removing the unit makes the saved entry available again.
- A new benchmark is missing.
- Save My Setup after editing the template. Check the current benchmark list and whether shared access permits editing.
- A colleague cannot see recent changes.
- Check connectivity, the active incident, access permissions, and the save/sync indicator on both devices.
- The website is blocked at work.
- Ask department IT to review the exact domain and the filtering category or block message. A newly registered domain can require an IT review.
- Will this guide update?
- The live guide is released with the app. Future app changes must include a guide review before building a release. Printed or saved copies remain snapshots; reopen the live guide for the current version.