Need a way to differentiate between a new and a repeat notification

When I configure a notification policy, I can set the "Repeat interval" this causes notifications to be repeated after a certain time.

Right now, a new notification is identical to a "repeat" notification. It would really help us if there's a way to differentiate these. One way I can think of solving this is by having a function that I can call from the alert template?

I'll be happy to send out a patch after we have clarity on how to handle this.