INTRODUCTION - Hyperbaric medicine today: an historically noble discipline challenged by loss of critical access and overutilization

The field of undersea and hyperbaric medicine has changed since the day six Naval officers established the Undersea Medical Society in 1967. At that time, the focus of the field primarily involved the treatment of emergencies, but over the next 50 years, the UHMS has promulgated the use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy for many additional indications. The field of hyperbaric medicine has grown to include more than the treatment of emergent indications, and as the interest in using HBO2 for non-healing wounds increased, the number of facilities available for emergency and critical care hyperbaric oxygen therapy has dropped. There are numerous reasons for this.

DOI: 10.22462/1.2.2017.1