AITA for refusing to be my coworker’s emergency contact after she listed me without asking?

I work with Dana at a small marketing firm. We are friendly in the office but not close outside it. We eat lunch together sometimes, know the names of each other’s pets, and have exchanged exactly two birthday texts.

Last month our company changed its benefits portal. During setup, an HR coordinator asked me to confirm my phone number because Dana had listed me as her emergency contact.

I assumed it was a mistake.

Dana said it was not. Her parents live overseas, she is divorced, and the friend she used previously moved to another state. She said I was the most reliable person nearby and that an emergency contact only receives a call if something serious happens.

I told her I was not comfortable being listed and asked her to remove me.

She looked embarrassed, then asked what exactly I imagined the responsibility involved. I said I did not know, which was part of the problem. I did not want to be the person expected to make decisions, collect her belongings, contact family members, or care for her dog because a form quietly assigned me the role.

Dana said the form did not grant me legal authority. She only needed someone who could answer a phone and reach her sister. She offered to give me the sister’s number and a one-page instruction sheet.

I still said no.

The conversation would probably have ended there, except our manager overheard part of it. Later he told me privately that Dana had a difficult year and that a little kindness would cost me nothing. He said he was not ordering me to agree, but his tone made the correct answer obvious.

I went back to Dana and said I was sorry she lacked a local option, but she could not create consent by entering my name first. She removed me and listed our office administrator, who had apparently volunteered after hearing about the situation.

Now Dana speaks to me only when work requires it. The office administrator says she genuinely does not mind and thinks I made a simple favor sound like a medical guardianship. My partner agrees that Dana should have asked, but says my refusal after she explained the limited role was cold.

I have no hidden trauma around emergencies. I am organized, I keep my phone on, and I probably would have helped if something happened in front of me. What I resisted was the idea that being competent and geographically convenient made me the natural holder of a responsibility we had never discussed.

AITA for refusing even after she explained what she needed?