Why You Should Think About Your Emergency Data Now

Imagine you end up in an acute emergency, for example after an accident or a sudden loss of consciousness, and cannot give any information about your health yourself. This is exactly what Notfalldaten-Management (NFDM, emergency data management) is for: important medical information is then stored directly on your electronic health card (eGK) and is quickly available to the people treating you [1]. Even so, this option is not widely known: according to a joint statement by gematik and the Bundesärztekammer (German Medical Association), only 14 percent of people with statutory health insurance knew about the emergency data on the card in 2021 [1].

What is the emergency data record and how does it differ from the DPE?

Emergency data management consists of two separate records: the medical Notfalldatensatz (NFD, emergency data record) and the Datensatz Persönliche Erklärungen (DPE, personal declarations record) [3]. The NFD contains medical information relevant in an emergency and is signed with a qualified electronic signature by a doctor using their elektronischer Heilberufsausweis (electronic health professional card) [3][4]. The DPE, by contrast, only contains notes on whether you have an organ donation declaration, a Patientenverfügung (advance directive) or a Vorsorgevollmacht (lasting power of attorney) and where these are kept. The documents themselves are not stored on the card, and the DPE is not signed [3][5].

Both records are voluntary. Whether they are stored and with what content is decided by you alone [2][3].

What information belongs in the emergency data record?

The emergency data record contains the information that the people treating you need most urgently in an emergency when you cannot give it yourself [1][2]. This includes:

• chronic and emergency-relevant conditions, for example diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular diseases [1][2]
• medications you take regularly, such as blood thinners [1][2]
• allergies and intolerances, especially to medications [1][5]
• special notes such as a pregnancy or implants, for example a pacemaker [1][8]
• contact details of your treating doctors and of a person who should be notified in an emergency [1][2]

People with statutory health insurance have a right to have the record created and updated under Section 358 (3) of the SGB V (German Social Code, Book V) [6]. The Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV, National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians) names people with several diagnoses, certain long-term medications, rare or emergency-relevant conditions, and pregnant women as a typical target group [5]. The record is therefore especially useful if you

• have a chronic illness or take medications regularly,
• are allergic to medications,
• have an implant or are pregnant,
• have an increased risk of emergencies, for example at an older age.

If this applies to you, ask your GP practice about it specifically.

Who may access your emergency data?

In an emergency, doctors, psychotherapists, their staff and emergency medical services may read the emergency data record even without your consent, as far as this is necessary for your care [5][7]. The legal basis for this today is Section 359 SGB V [7]. Outside an emergency, that is during a normal visit to a practice, reading or editing is only allowed with your explicit consent, which the practice documents [5][7]. With your consent, pharmacists can also read the data outside of emergencies [4].

By default, no PIN is activated for the emergency data record [5]. However, you can protect it with the PIN for your health card, which your health insurance fund issues [2][3]. If the PIN is active, you need it for creating, updating and reading the record during normal practice visits. In an emergency, authorized persons can still read the data without a PIN, so that no one is held up in an acute situation [3][5][8].

Access can be traced: the reason for reading, the time and the person accessing the data are logged on the card [3]. The data can only ever be read with an electronic health professional card. This is why you view your own emergency data at a doctor's practice, as a printout if you wish [3][8].

How does your emergency data get onto the card?

The emergency data record is created by a doctor who has a comprehensive overview of your findings, diagnoses and treatments, which usually means your GP practice [2][5]. Later, all treating doctors and psychotherapists can update it when they have new emergency-relevant information [2]. For you as a person with statutory health insurance, this is free of charge [3][9].

What changes with the electronic patient record?

As of October 2026, the emergency data record is still stored on the electronic health card; a copy in the ePA is possible on a voluntary basis but not mandatory [4][10]. The law requires that the emergency data on the card must remain readable even without a network connection [6]. In addition, Section 358 SGB V already provides for an electronic patient summary in the ePA, which gives an overview of important health data and is also intended to support treatment in other EU countries in the future [6].

According to gematik, the plan for 2028 is to transfer the contents of the emergency data record into the ePA as a so-called patient summary (Patientenkurzakte). Doctors with access to your ePA should then get a quick overview [4]. We are not currently aware of a binding deadline for the switch. What this means for you: an emergency data record that you have created today is not wasted. It already helps in an emergency and forms the basis for the later patient summary.

For a practice to use emergency data from the ePA, it needs access to your record, either because your card was read in the practice or because you have granted the practice access in the ePA app [5].

What applies to people with private insurance, children and deletion?

People with private health insurance usually do not have an electronic health card and therefore cannot have an emergency data record stored on a card [9][10]. Private health insurers are not yet required to offer an ePA. If they do, the same rules apply as in statutory health insurance, and access for practices is then granted via the ePA app [10]. The Verbraucherzentrale (consumer advice center) recommends that people without an eGK carry an emergency card on paper [9].

For children, we have not found any specific rules on the emergency data record in the official sources. Whether a record makes sense, for example with a chronic illness or a severe allergy, is best discussed with your pediatric or GP practice. Medical counseling on organ donation as a covered service is provided for from the age of 14 [5].

Withdrawal and deletion are possible at any time. You can withdraw your consent; the practice then deletes the emergency data from your card and documents this [3][5]. The law explicitly states that insured persons can have the applications completely deleted at any time [6]. Before deletion, your doctor should explain to you what consequences this may have in an emergency [5].

The emergency data record is voluntary, but it can give the people treating you important information in an emergency when you cannot provide it yourself. Ask about it specifically at your next visit to your avi GP practice.