Kingsley Peter
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4547-5179.
Br Paramed J. 2024 Dec 1;9(3):63-73. doi: 10.29045/14784726.2024.12.9.3.63.
The aim of this professional practice article is to increase awareness and knowledge of chemsex among emergency medical service (EMS) clinicians.
EMS clinicians can expect to be called on to respond to medical emergencies across the range and breadth of human behaviours, some of which will take them into areas they are unfamiliar with and/or that involve illegal activity. It is likely that many EMS clinicians would regard chemsex as one such area. A secretive activity, largely occurring out of sight of wider society, chemsex involves the planned use of specific drugs to enhance, prolong and sustain sexual experiences. Most chemsex is consensual, with participants engaging in it because they derive pleasure and enjoyment from the activity. Many do not regard their participation as problematic and so are highly unlikely to have previously discussed this aspect of their lives with a medical or harm-reduction professional. Engagement in chemsex does, however, carry significant risks of both mental and physical harms. When something goes wrong at an event, EMS can expect to be called to respond.In this article, chemsex scenarios are combined with literature drawn from a range of sources to explore multiple aspects of chemsex from the perspective of EMS clinicians.
Chemsex invokes a complex interaction between physical health, mental health, social care, addiction medicine, sexual health and criminal justice. In providing a community-based response, EMS clinicians are uniquely placed as the only element of healthcare that sees chemsex participants at the event location, often while the incident is still going on. Equipping responders with core knowledge of chemsex activities will ensure they are best able to provide a response that is knowledgeable, patient-centred and offers unconditional positive regard. Clinicians that are chemsex-aware will be in a better position to recognise and understand the drugs that may have been taken and their associated toxidrome and appreciate the significant risk of physical and mental trauma. They will also recognise they are in a unique and privileged position and feel confident to engage in harm reduction with this very high-risk and largely unseen cohort of patients.
这篇专业实践文章的目的是提高急救医疗服务（EMS）临床医生对“化学性爱”的认识和了解。
EMS临床医生可能会被要求应对各种人类行为引发的医疗紧急情况，其中一些情况会将他们带入他们不熟悉的领域和/或涉及非法活动的领域。许多EMS临床医生可能会将“化学性爱”视为这样一个领域。“化学性爱”是一种隐秘的活动，主要在更广泛的社会视野之外发生，它涉及有计划地使用特定药物来增强、延长和维持性体验。大多数“化学性爱”是双方自愿的，参与者参与其中是因为他们从这种活动中获得愉悦和享受。许多人不认为自己的参与有问题，因此之前极不可能与医疗或减少伤害方面的专业人员讨论过他们生活中的这一方面。然而，参与“化学性爱”确实会带来重大的身心伤害风险。当活动中出现问题时，预计会呼叫EMS进行响应。在本文中，“化学性爱”场景与来自一系列来源的文献相结合，从EMS临床医生的角度探讨“化学性爱”的多个方面。
“化学性爱”引发了身体健康、心理健康、社会护理、成瘾医学、性健康和刑事司法之间的复杂相互作用。在提供基于社区的应对措施方面，EMS临床医生具有独特的地位，是医疗保健中唯一在活动现场见到“化学性爱”参与者的元素，而且通常是在事件仍在进行时。为急救人员配备“化学性爱”活动的核心知识将确保他们能够以最有见识、以患者为中心且给予无条件积极关注的方式做出响应。了解“化学性爱”的临床医生将更有能力识别和理解可能服用的药物及其相关中毒综合征，并认识到身心创伤的重大风险。他们也会认识到自己处于独特且有特权的地位，并有信心与这一高风险且基本上不为人所见的患者群体开展减少伤害工作。
