for an "International Conference on Diving and
Hyperbaric Medicine", as well as the ECHM,
the Latin American UHMS Chapter, the
European Diving Technology Committee, the
High Pressure Biology Symposium and
possible also other groups, into what promises
to be yet another unique scientific event.
My vote is that this event, where the ICHM is
an essential catalyser, will further contribute to
reaching a uniform approach to Hyperbaric
Medicine (or Baromedicine, as it is more and
more frequently referred to) internationally,
only to the advantage of the prestige and
credibility of this deserving medical specialty,
for which it is about time to abandon the
"Cinderella" role that has been wrongly
attributed to it for just too long a time now.
Alessandro Marroni
Roseto, Italy
The XIII Annual Chinese
Symposium on Hyperbaric
Medicine
The Symposium convened at the Songyuan
hotel, Changchun City, Jilin Province, China
from September 6-8, 2004. The meeting was a
great success, both scientifically and socially.
One hundred and sixty-eight delegates,
including seven scientists from Germany and
Chinese Taiwan, from all over China.
The meeting received more than 200 papers,
160 of which were included in the proceeding.
The scientific program consisted of six lectures
on special topics, including "Current situation
on HBO in Germany" presented by Dr.
Christian Heiden, "Application of HBO in
Experimental Heatstroke" by Dr. Maochun
Lin, "Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber fires in
China: Causes Analysis" by Dr. Zhongquan
Tang, and "Molecular Mechanism of the two-
way effect of HBO on immune functions"
(written by Dr. Weigang Xu) by Dr. Chunlei
Jiang, etc., and other twenty oral presentations.
Dr. Gao, President of the Chinese society on
Hyperbaric Medicine, made a summary on this
meeting and HBO work in 2004, and declared
that the XIV Chinese Annual Symposium on
Hyperbaric Medicine would be held in Guilin
City, Guangxi Province, in October, 2005 and
hoped that more foreign specialists on
hyperbaric medicine would take part in the
Symposium.
Hengyi Tao,
Shanghai, China
The Undersea and
Hyperbaric Medical Society
Annual Scientific Meeting
(Continued from Page 5)
Ultimately there were 469 registrants for part or
all of the meeting, and by any standards in our
relatively small community, this represented a
great response. 70% of registrants were from
outside Australia and New Zealand, and fully
half were from the USA, with the UK and Japan
also heavily represented. In all, members of
various organizations from 28 nations attended
a truly international meeting of which even
the ICHM might be proud!
Scientifically, there were rich pickings on offer.
The programme began with workshops in both
Diving and Hyperbarics, with both streams well
attended (205 delegates in total). The Diving
Medicine workshop, expertly organized by a
committee led by Simon Mitchell, David
Doolette, Chris Wachholtz and Dick Vann, and
sponsored by the Divers Alert Network,
examined the treatment of diving injuries in
remote locations. This was a workshop of true
importance in this field and will prove to have
been a defining moment in the treatment of
decompression illness. I advise all diving
physicians to get hold of a copy of the
proceedings. Upstairs, Ian Millar organized a
detailed look at the interactions between
Hyperbaric Medicine and Intensive Care. All
Fall 2004
Page 6
HBO Congress
(Continued on Page 7)
