CAPE ELIZABETH (NEWS CENTER Maine)-- The Skin Cancer Foundation brought the doctor's office to the patients using their mobile office RV, with two exam rooms, at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth where they teamed up with Intermed dermatologists to offer free skin cancer screenings to anyone interested. .
Dr. Kenneth Galeckas said skin cancer has become an epidemic in the U.S. with million of new diagnoses every year. Galeckas attributes this to more awareness of the dangers of prolonged skin exposure now than in earlier generations. Mainers should be especially careful: Maine has the seventh highest rate of skin cancer in the country, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Galeckas adds that access to dermatologists in Maine is harder to find.
"In Maine, access to dermatologists is very lean," Galeckas said. "There's a wait list of six to seven months. We're severely understaffed."
This was the main reason Galeckas helped give free screenings at Fort Williams Sunday.
"That also feels good."
Dermatologists recommend using broad spectrum SPF 30 or above every day, and say one person needs a shot glass worth of sunscreen to cover his or her entire body. Even then, more should be reapplied to exposed skin every two hours, or after getting wet.