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HEALTH

What should you do if you need emergency medical help while visiting Denmark?

Although we hope you never need to, it’s worth knowing how to get acute medical help while in Denmark temporarily.

Published: 23 July 2024 16:25 CEST
What should you do if you need emergency medical help while visiting Denmark?
The Danish term for an ER or Accident & Emergency is 'Akutmodtagelse'. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

You always have the right to acute healthcare in Denmark, no matter where you come from. This includes treatment for serious allergic reactions as well as accidents and acute illness. The emergency number in Denmark is 112.

If you need to go to an ER or Accident & Emergency department (Akutmodtagelse in Danish) while visiting Denmark, then you should call ahead so that the relevant hospital knows you are coming. Usually, you will be given a specific time at your local hospital to attend.

Each of Denmark’s five regional health authorities have a different number which you should call in this situation. They are listed below. You will be connected to an on-call doctor (lægevagt) who will ask about your situation and provide advice.

  • Greater Copenhagen – 1813
  • Zealand – 1818
  • South Denmark (includes Odense) – 70 11 07 07
  • Central Jutland (includes Aarhus) – 70 11 31 31
  • North Jutland (includes Aalborg) – 70 15 03 00

If you are unsure which region you are in, you can use the lægevagten.dk website, which has a clickable map with contact details.

Keep in mind that if the emergency injury or illness is life-threatening, you immediately should call 112 – Denmark’s equivalent to the 911 or 999 emergency numbers.

READ ALSO: Emergency in Denmark: Who to call and what to say

Do I have to pay for emergency treatment?

Depending on where you come from, you may be charged for “acute and continuous hospital treatment”. This is most likely if you are from a country which is outside of the EU along with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland .

You should therefore take out travel insurance that covers you in acute situations if needed.

You do not have to pay if you have public health insurance in another EU country or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland and have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

If you live in one of the Nordic countries and have health insurance there, an EHIC card is not needed.

You also don’t have to pay if you are under 18 years old.

An EHIC card entitles you to any medical treatemant “that is necessary during your temporary stay in Denmark, meaning treatment which cannot wait until you are back in your home country,” according to information from the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

This can mean treatment due to an acute illness, necessary treatment related to a chronic or pre-existing illness or treatment in connection with pregnancy and childbirth.

The EHIC means you are eligible for treatment within the Danish public healthcare system on the same terms and conditions as Danish citizens.

More on how to use the European Health Insurance Card can be found on the EU Commission website.

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For members

HEALTH

The essential guide for travelling (and living) with allergies in Denmark

Whether you have an allergy or travel with someone who does, dealing with unfamiliar foods and not knowing what you can eat can be a stressful experience. Hopefully this guide will help you get by in Denmark.

Published: 17 July 2024 15:58 CEST
The essential guide for travelling (and living) with allergies in Denmark

EU allergy laws

Denmark is covered by EU laws on the most common dangerous food allergens, meaning that when you eat out in restaurants, cafés, hotels, or similar places, they are legally obliged to explain what the food contains. 

When buying prepackaged food, you’ll usually see any ingredients containing one of these allergens highlighted in bold or capital letters. Here’s a list of the 14 most common food allergens with their Danish translations.

  • Cereals containing gluten – glute​nholdige kornprodukter
  • Crustaceans – krebsdyr
  • Eggs – æg
  • Fish – fisk
  • Peanuts – jordnødder
  • Soy beans/products – soja og produkter på basis af soja
  • Milk – mælk
  • Nuts/tree nuts – nødder
  • Celery – selleri
  • Mustard – sennep
  • Sesame – sesamfrø
  • Sulphur dioxide and sulphites – svovldioxid og sulfitter i koncentrationer
  • Lupin – lupin
  • Molluscs – bløddyr

More specific information on these allergens and how they might be worded on Danish packaging can be found of the website of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (Fødevarestyrelen).

Depending on your allergy, it can be a good idea to learn the Danish words for common food items that may contain your allergen, like ost, fløde or vallepulver (cheese, cream or whey powder) for milk allergies, although these will often be followed by the name of the allergen in question, too. For example, you might see whey powder listed on an ingredients list as vallepulver (af mælk) [whey powder (from milk)].

Common cereals you should look out for on Swedish ingredient lists are hved (wheat), rug (rye), havre (oats) and byg (barley), and tree nuts include hasselnød (hazelnut), valnød (walnut), cashewnød (cashew nut), pekannød (pecan nut), paranød (brazil nut), pistacie (pistachio) and makadamianød (macadamia nut).

Be aware that this is not an exhaustive list, so double check any ingredient highlighted in bold on an ingredient list before eating to make sure it’s not something you’re allergic to.

Note that many Danish words are compounds, so these words might crop up as part of other words too, for example hvedemeal (plain flour) or havredrik/mælk (oat drink/milk). These are usually highlighted in ingredient lists with the allergen in bold, for example havredrik.

Some more important phrases are kan indeholde (may contain), kan indeholde spor af (may contain traces of) and fri fra (free from). People with egg or milk allergies should also be aware of the Danish words used to mark vegan food – vegansk or plantebaseret (plant based). Don’t confuse this with vegetarisk, which means vegetarian.

Be aware of common Danish foods which may contain allergens. Some foods described as a salad (salat) often contain mayonnaise, and eggs, fish and shellfish are all popular ingredients. Those with fish or crustacean allergies should watch out for prawns (rejer), crayfish (krebs) and herring (sild).

Sauces and gravies are liekly to contain cream, butter or milk, so make sure to check these, and there are a number of traditional Danish cakes which contain almond (mandel) such as marzipankager (marzipan cakes) or napoleonshatte.

READ ALSO: Five classic Danish cakes you need to try

Have a dialogue with staff in restaurants

Knowing the EU allergens can be useful for reading menus and ingredient lists in the supermarket, but people with allergies should not rely on written information alone when ordering in restaurants.

Businesses can decide to inform customers about allergens in their products verbally. This means they have to place a sign in a very visible part of the restaurant or café stating that staff can provide information about allergens. This can read something like: kunder kan få oplysninger om allergene ingredienser ved at henvende sig til personalet (”customers can be given information about allergens in ingredients by asking a member of staff”).

This can help restaurants account for the fact that menus often change with the seasons, and may not always have the most up-to-date information.

Decide whether to make or buy an allergy card

Danes are famously good at English, but for people with allergies it’s important that you’re completely confident that the person you’re talking to has understood what you’re trying to tell them.

It can be a good idea to write up some sort of message or card with information of your allergies included in Danish which you can show to staff (you can also buy one of these online with information in multiple languages), but it’s also wise not to over-rely on this and to discuss your allergies with staff directly.

It can also be a good idea to let the restaurant know about your allergies in advance, if possible, whether that’s by phone or online.

If you do choose to create a card or written message to show to staff, here are some useful phrases in Danish which you can include:

Jeg har en alvorlig/livstruende madallergi – I have a serious/life-threatening food allergy.

Jeg er allergisk over for… – I am allergic to…

Jeg kan ikke tale… — I can’t eat/am intolerant to

Det er ikke en [gluten/laktose]intolerans. – It is not a [gluten/lactose] intolerance.

You may also want to list some common foods that often include your allergen. For someone with a milk allergy, for example, you could write the following:

Det betyder at jeg ikke kan spise mælk eller mælkeprodukter som for eksempel smør, fløde, eller ost.

(That means that I cannot eat milk or dairy products such as butter, cream, or cheese, for example.)

If you have an allergy to tree nuts, you may want to explain which nuts are included.

Jeg er allergisk over for nødder, det vil sige hasselnød, valnød, cashewnød, pekannød, paranød, pistacie og macadamianød. 

(I am allergic to nuts, that means hazelnut, walnut, cashew nut, pecan nut, Brazil nut, pistachio and macadamia nut.)

You may also want to explain what you can eat. Things like pine nuts (pinjekerner), peanuts (jordnødder/peanuts) and coconuts (kokos) are not tree nuts, for example, and those with milk allergies may need to explain that they can eat things like eggs (æg) or mayonnaise (mayonnaise), or traces of (spor af) certain foods.

Jeg kan godt tåle/spise – I can eat

What to do if you have a reaction

You always have the right to acute healthcare in Denmark, no matter where you come from. This includes treatment for serious allergic reactions. The emergency number in Denmark is 112.

READ ALSO: Emergency in Denmark: Who to call and what to say

Depending on where you come from, you may be charged for “acute and continuous hospital treatment”, however.

You do not have to pay if you have public health insurance (likely if you are a resident) in another EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland and have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

As a general rule, non-EU residents will need to pay.

If you live in one of the Nordic countries, an EHIC card is not needed.

You also don’t have to pay if you are under 18 years old.

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