  For the Caldirola-Kanai system, describing a quantum damped harmonic
oscillator, a couple of constant-of-motion operators generating the Heisenberg
algebra can be found. The inclusion of the standard time evolution symmetry in
this algebra for damped systems, in a unitary manner, requires a non-trivial
extension of this basic algebra and hence the physical system itself.
Surprisingly, this extension leads directly to the so-called Bateman's dual
system, which now includes a new particle acting as an energy reservoir. The
group of symmetries of the dual system is presented, as well as a quantization
that implies, in particular, a first-order Schr\"odinger equation. The usual
second-order equation and the inclusion of the original Caldirola-Kanai model
in Bateman's system are also discussed.
