This is the first time that the Congress conference, which began Saturday, has been held in Hawai'i.

The Congress is scheduled to have a larger contingency from China, Japan and South Korea than in the past. The conference is expected to generate more than 36,000 room nights for the Honolulu hotels, said convention center officials. Total state-wide spending by attendees is expected to be more than $21.2 million with over $2 million in state-wide tax revenue.

The society was created in 1970 by 29 physicians with a major interest in the care of the critically ill who met in Los Angeles to form an organization committed to meeting the needs of extremely ill patients. Thirty-seven years later, the fruit of their labor -- the Society of Critical Care Medicine the nonprofit public benefit corporation is still growing.