From November 11 to 15, 2020, the 20th International Congress of Hyperbaric Medicine (ICHM) will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Argentine Association of Hyperbaric Medicine and Research (AAMHEI) will support this event.

The meeting will be held at the Rio Othon Palace Hotel. The privileged location in Copacabana is famous thanks to the various recreation, gastronomy and culture options. Copacabana is one of the most famous neighborhoods in Brazil and one of the best known in the world.

The ICHM will bring together different societies of Hyperbaric Medicine in the world and professionals from different areas that have incorporated Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) into their practice and health institutions. Doctors, Nurses, Students, Technicians andDivers may participate.

The program will have the presence of renowned national and international specialists to encourage debate, reflection, and dissemination of the most current issues of Hyperbaric Medicine. There will also be an exhibitor area.

All participants enrolled in the 20thInternational Congress of Hyperbaric Medicine are invited to present scientific papers. It is essential that the presenter is enrolled in congress to send any form of scientific work. The maximum number of authors for each work will be 6 (six).

All abstracts must be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Photographs, graphs or tables will not be accepted. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 09/30/2020. They should be sent exclusively from the congress page www.ichm2020.rio.br, in Free Topics. Abstracts that are sent otherwise will not be accepted.

About the ICHM

The year 1963 was the initial milestone of this Congress that was held in Holland at the initiative of the famous surgeon and hyperbaric doctor Ite Boerema (1902-1980). The event is held every 3 years and is not linked to any entity, only to the hyperbaric professionals organizing the event. One of its basic rules establishes that the host city of the congress is always located on a different continent from the previous headquarters.

During the 4th congress in Vancouver, Canada, the wooden hammer ritual was incorporated, which is used in the opening and closing of the congress and is passed to the president of the next congress. From the 7th congress held in Moscow, Russia, in 1981, a commemorative plaque is also placed on the front of the box where the hammer is stored.

The use of the hammer is born in Norse and Greek mythology, perhaps derived from the staff used by the wise men who hit them on the ground to get the attention of the public. Later they were replaced by hammers, smaller and more practical objects. Currently, judges use them when issuing sentences in court. To this day the “final hammering” means that an end to negotiation or something that was pending.

Some entities adopt the hammer as a symbol of a serious attitude and with good intentions, as is the case of the ICHM. In this way, the wooden hammer that is passed from one president to the next in each edition of the congress is incorporated. In this case, the hammer arrives from Belgrade, Serbia, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and will be delivered to the president of the next congress, at the end of the ICHM 2020.

About the inscription

To participate in the 20th ICHM, go to https://www.ichm2020.rio.br/ES/Default.aspx.