Understanding Major Unusual Incidents
What is a Major Unusual Incident (MUI)?
An MUI is an incident that someone says happened or says someone told them about that puts a person’s health and welfare at risk.
What is an Unusual Incident (UI)?
A UI is an incident that is not consistent with a person’s care or service plan and is not an MUI.
Why are MUIs Reported?
MUIs are reported so they can be investigated. The investigation will help find out why the incident happened and what can be done to keep it from happening again. The goal is to help people be safe.
When are MUIs Reported?
MUIs are reported immediately or within 24 hours based on MUI type.
MUIs and UIs Differences
UIs are not as serious as MUIs but need to be investigated to be sure everyone is safe and to try to keep it from happening again.
All MUIs have to be investigated by county boards or developmental centers, but some require law enforcement and other agencies to be involved.
Health and Welfare
The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) provides informational notices to stakeholders, issues Health and Welfare Alerts, manages a centralized complaint hotline, conducts statewide Mortality Review Committee meetings, steers statewide patterns and trends meetings, and provides ongoing training to the field. For more information, click here.
Reporting Major Unusual Incidents
Call DCBDD to report an MUI during business hours at 740-201-3600 or after hours at 740-369-3316 (HelpLine).
For all major unusual incidents, submit a written incident report to the county board contact by 3:00 p.m. on the first working day following the day you become aware of a potential or determined major unusual incident. Email the incident report to MUI@dcbdd.org.
Reporting Unusual Incidents
Please use the Unusual Incident Report Log to track all unusual incidents that occur.
Annual Analysis of Major Unusual Incidents
All independent and agency providers are required to complete an Annual Review of their MUIs. Reports must be completed by January 31 and sent to the County Board by February 28. Please use the forms below for the review, and submit completed forms to MUI@dcbdd.org.
Health and Welfare Alerts
Ohio Administrative Code 5123:2-17-02 requires all developmental disabilities employees to review Health and Welfare Alerts released by the department as a part of annual training. A complete listing of alerts can be found on the DODD website. For quick access to these alerts, click here.