Emergencies are the one situation where you cannot pause to find the right word. Stress narrows vocabulary to whatever is genuinely automatic, which means emergency German has to be learned before you need it, not during.
This guide covers the vocabulary, the structured assessment language and the short sentences that carry an emergency in a German hospital.
Calling for Help
The European emergency number is 112, and it works from any phone in Germany, Austria and the rest of the EU. Knowing what to say next matters as much as knowing the number.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Rufen Sie die 112! | Call 112! |
| Holen Sie Hilfe! | Get help! |
| Wir brauchen den Notarzt. | We need the emergency doctor. |
| Ich brauche Unterstützung im Zimmer 14. | I need support in room 14. |
| Kommen Sie bitte sofort. | Please come immediately. |
| Bringen Sie den Notfallwagen. | Bring the emergency trolley. |
One structural detail worth knowing: in the German system the Rettungswagen is the ambulance, and the Notarzt is a physician dispatched to the scene for serious cases. They are two different people, and German colleagues will ask which you have called.
If you work in a German-speaking hospital, learn German with emergency scenarios included, not just routine conversation.
The ABCDE Assessment in German
German emergency and intensive care uses the same ABCDE structure as the rest of Europe, with German terms.
| Letter | German | What you check |
|---|---|---|
| A | Atemwege | airway |
| B | Beatmung | breathing |
| C | Kreislauf | circulation |
| D | Neurologisches Defizit | consciousness and neurology |
| E | Umgebung, Exploration | exposure, full examination |
ABCDE is a priority order, not a checklist of equal parts. Time spent on A is never wasted.
The Vocabulary of a Crisis
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der Kreislaufstillstand | cardiac arrest |
| die Wiederbelebung, die Reanimation | resuscitation |
| die Herzdruckmassage | chest compressions |
| der Defibrillator, das AED | defibrillator |
| die Atemwege freimachen | clear the airway |
| die Beatmung | ventilation |
| der Venenzugang | venous access |
| die Blutung | bleeding |
| die starke Blutung | major bleeding |
| die Bewusstlosigkeit | unconsciousness |
| der Krampfanfall | seizure |
| der Schlaganfall | stroke |
| der Herzinfarkt | heart attack |
| die Aspiration | aspiration |
| der Schock | shock |
Sentences You Must Be Able to Say Without Thinking
"Der Patient reagiert nicht." - The patient is not responding.
"Er atmet nicht normal." - He is not breathing normally.
"Können Sie mich hören?" - Can you hear me?
"Bleiben Sie bei mir." - Stay with me.
"Wir fangen mit der Herzdruckmassage an." - We are starting chest compressions.
"Holen Sie den Defibrillator." - Fetch the defibrillator.
"Ich habe einen Zugang." - I have access.
"Der Blutdruck ist nicht messbar." - Blood pressure is not measurable.
"Wir brauchen eine Ärztin, jetzt." - We need a doctor, now.
"Ich übernehme die Beatmung." - I will take over ventilation.
Recognising a Stroke in German
The FAST check translates cleanly, and German colleagues will understand it in English or with the German words.
| Letter | German | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| F | Gesicht | "Bitten Sie den Patienten zu lächeln." - Ask the patient to smile. |
| A | Arme | "Bitten Sie ihn, beide Arme zu heben." - Ask him to raise both arms. |
| S | Sprache | "Lassen Sie ihn einen Satz nachsprechen." - Have him repeat a sentence. |
| T | Zeit | "Notieren Sie den Zeitpunkt des Beginns." - Record the onset time. |
Onset time is the single most valuable piece of information you can hand over in a suspected stroke, because it determines whether thrombolysis is still possible.
Structured Handover in an Emergency
German emergency teams use SBAR, and increasingly ATMIST for pre-hospital handover. Both expect the same discipline: the most important fact first, no narrative.
"Zimmer 14, männlich, 68 Jahre. Kreislaufstillstand seit zwei Minuten. Reanimation läuft."
"Bekannt: Herzinsuffizienz, Diabetes. Letzte Medikamentengabe vor einer Stunde."
"Wir brauchen den Notarzt und den Defibrillator."
Three Mistakes Worth Avoiding
Building up to the point. In German emergency communication, the room number and the problem come first. Background comes after, if there is time.
Using polite indirect forms. "Könnten Sie vielleicht kurz kommen?" is for routine requests. In an emergency, "Kommen Sie bitte sofort" is correct and expected.
Guessing a drug or dose under pressure. German emergency teams treat "Ich weiß es nicht, ich lese nach" as competent. Guessing is the one error that is not forgiven.
The Handover After the Emergency
The emergency itself is short. What follows it is a structured report, and German teams expect the same order every time.
You will be asked to summarise: "Was ist passiert?" Answer in the sequence Ereignis, Befund, Maßnahme, Verlauf, and then hand over openly. A clean example: "Herr K., Zimmer 8, kollabiert um 14:20. Kein Puls tastbar, keine Atmung. Reanimation begonnen, ein Schock, Adrenalin nach Algorithmus. Nach zwei Minuten ROSC, Patient ansprechbar, Blutdruck 110 zu 70."
Note the abbreviation ROSC, used in German alongside the English term. Note also that times, doses and sequences are stated as bare facts, without softening language. Hedging in a post-resuscitation report reads as uncertainty about your own actions, which is the last impression you want to give.
Two phrases carry the whole debrief. "Ich habe Folgendes beobachtet" frames your account as evidence rather than opinion. "Was sollen wir als Nächstes tun?" hands the decision back to the responsible doctor, which is the correct move for a nurse and is understood as competence rather than passivity.
Vocabulary like this has to be drilled out loud, because the moment of need arrives without warning. That is the argument for choosing a course that lets you learn German through simulation rather than through reading.
Building Reflexes, Not Knowledge
Nobody recalls vocabulary for the first time during a resuscitation. The phrases above need to be reflexes, which means practising them loudly and repeatedly, out of context, until they arrive without effort.
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