Every physical intervention gets recorded, however brief and however it ended. This is the record an inspector goes to first, and the one most likely to be read back to you.

Record it the same day

Memory for a restraint degrades fast and inconsistently. Write it while you can still put the sequence in order. ARC marks a record Recorded after 24h if it was made more than 24 hours after the intervention, so a late record is visible to the manager who signs it off.

Start from the incident

A physical intervention is recorded from inside the incident it happened in. Open the incident and, in the Physical Interventions card, choose Record intervention. The form opens as Record physical intervention.

The incident already holds what led up to it and what happened, so the intervention form does not ask for them again. Write those on the incident, and write them fully: what led up to it is the part that prevents the next one, and the part most often left thin.

What the form asks

Fields marked required must be filled in before Record intervention will save.

Field	What goes in it
When (required)	When it happened
Duration	Minutes and seconds
Where it was used (required)	The place. It is filled in from the incident's location, which you can change
Who used the intervention (required)	The member of staff who carried it out, chosen from the home's staff
Provider and Technique	From your home's approved framework, or Other (specify) and describe it
Reason for intervention	Why it was used
De-escalation strategies attempted first	Switch on, then write what was tried to avoid using physical intervention
Effectiveness and consequences (required)	Did it keep people safe, and what happened as a result for the young person, others and staff
Anyone else present (assisting / witness)	Add each person with the role assisting or witness
Injuries (body map)	Mark injuries on the body map, with separate Child and Staff views
Medical attention required	Switch on, then give the details
Child offered the chance to share their views	Switch on, then write their views and feelings

If you used something outside the framework, choose Other (specify) and say so plainly rather than picking the nearest listed option.

Debriefs are recorded on the incident, not on this form. See Incident debriefs.

After you save: awaiting sign-off

A saved record reads Awaiting sign-off, with the time it should be signed off by. If that time passes it reads Sign-off overdue. Once a manager has signed it, it reads Signed off.

A manager chooses Sign off, ticks "I have spoken to the staff member who used this intervention, and I am signing to confirm the record is accurate.", and chooses Confirm sign-off. The button stays disabled until the box is ticked. The card then shows staff spoken to beside the signature.

A manager can also Send back the record to a member of staff with a note saying what is needed, or Undo sign-off with a reason. A sent-back record is resubmitted with Submit for review again. Undoing a sign-off puts the record back to awaiting sign-off. The 48-hour time is always counted from the intervention itself, so it does not restart.

Deadlines you will see

ARC applies these to physical interventions:

Recorded after 24h appears on any record made more than 24 hours after the intervention.
For managers, Speak to the staff involved and sign the record (within 48h) appears in Due and Overdue until the record is signed off.
For managers, Speak to the young person and record their debrief (within 5 days) appears in Due and Overdue, counted from the first intervention on the incident, until the young person's debrief has been recorded.

See Due and overdue across the home.

Afterwards

If the intervention points at something in the risk assessment or the plan being wrong, say so on the incident. A restraint that changes nothing tends to happen again.