2/15/11: Rebecca Barlow
Dixie Regional Medical Center’s Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Clinic (RESEP), often known as the Downwinder clinic, has started coming quarterly to Kanab to see patients. The next scheduled clinic date is March 8, 2011 at Kane County Hospital if there is enough patient interest.
The RESEP Clinic was established by the United States Government to aide the thousands of individuals potentially affected by the nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, as well as those who worked in the uranium industry. Patients who qualify for the program are eligible to receive a free cancer screening examination and education specific to their personal cancer risk factors. Patients may be seen on a yearly basis and are encouraged to do so.
The RESEP clinic also helps eligible individuals receive compensation from the government through the Radiation Compensation Act (RECA). Patients who are eligible to be seen at a RESEP clinic include:
- Downwinders: Those who lived in specific counties of southern Utah, Arizona or Nevada for at least one year from 1951 to 1958 or the month of July 1962 during the nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site.
- Nevada Test Site Workers: Those who worked onsite at any nuclear test facility during an atmospheric detonation.
- Uranium Industry Workers: Those who were miners, ore transporters, or millers of uranium for at least one year—from 1942 to 1971.
These individuals are at a greater risk for leukemia’s, lymphomas, breast and thyroid cancers. The RESEP clinic tries to decrease this risk by educating patients on what cancer screening tests they are due for and also performing a physical exam. All who qualify are encouraged to schedule an appointment for the March 8th clinic and continue to be seen on an annual basis.
For an appointment please call 435-251-2875
