Southern Utah cancer clinic aiding downwinders

ST. GEORGE — Oncology nurse Becky Barlow knows the numbers by heart, and they aren't pretty.

Among the cancer facts she has memorized are the estimated 40,000 area residents exposed to radiation from above-ground nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site during the 1950s and 1960s.

Another fact: About 8,000 local residents have received information about the federal government's Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, with RECA applications provided to about 440 people.

As director of the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program at Dixie Regional Medical Center, Barlow keeps the tallies many people don't want to talk about.

Since opening the RESEP clinic on March 10, 2004, Barlow said 878 patients have been seen. Two-thirds of them have been referred for follow-up visits or for further screenings, she said. A clinic at Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City is also accepting appointments.

"The most commonly discovered cancers diagnosed at the clinic are breast, prostate, skin and precancerous polyps in the colon," said Barlow, who is a firm believer in the clinic's push for early detection.

"We are glad to have had such a great response and want to hammer home the point that when dealing with cancer, early detection is the key," she said, pointing out there are some good numbers hidden among the bad.

Several dozen people showed up to a public meeting at the hospital this past week to learn more about the RESEP clinic and to hear from Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, about his efforts to stop the push toward resumed nuclear weapons tests.

"These new nuclear weapons are designed to be offensive, to be used in the early stages of a conflict," Matheson said during a question-and-answer period. "I think we can go after those deeply embedded bunkers without using nuclear weapons."

Those attending the meeting couldn't agree more. A tearful Michelle Thomas thanked Matheson for his stance against renewed nuclear tests.

"I've been to Washington, D.C., before and I find there are people there who kind of wish these downwinders would just fly off this planet and go away," said Thomas. "That way they could do whatever they want to do. I'm so grateful to this congressman. He has never turned his back on us once, not ever."

Several people said the federal government knew at the time of the nuclear tests that the bombs would release radiation into the air.