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Not your typical sunny day Heather Murphy Public Relations It’s typical to hear warnings about wearing sunscreen and taking care of oneself in the sometimes stifling sauna that we call the Lowcountry.   What’s not typical is the Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Health Unit (MHU) parked at Front Beach, Isle of Palms, complete with dermatologists and Hollings volunteer staff encouraging beach-goers to participate in a free skin cancer screening.    Sometimes, the not-so-typical is what gets people’s attention.    The first beach screening was held last month at Folly Beach with approximately 146 people screened in a three-hour time span, with 79 of those screened receiving follow-up referrals. Last Saturday’s screening on Isle of Palms included 126 screened and more than 100 referred.   “What better place to provide this type of service,” said Lin Nicolas, Ph.D., director of administration for Hollings Cancer Center. “We can capture individuals whoare spending the day on the beach and create an awareness of how they can protect themselves from the sun.”    Pearon G. Lang, Jr., M.D., is glad that the country is beginning to realize that skin cancer is a major public health issue and that MUSC is making a real effort to do something about it. Lang identified at least one case of melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer, at Folly Beach.    “The purpose of the screening van is twofold. First, we want to encourage prevention of skin cancer by educating the public. The second is early detection. One person dies from melanoma every hour in this country, so it is becoming increasingly important to watch for the warning signs,” said Lang    And the response to the van has been good.   “At one point at Folly we had to turn the waiting room on the van into an examining room,” said Bill Horne, driver and mechanic for the MHU van.   For those able to be screened, paperwork recording demographic information and patient histories was filled out and then examinations took place inside the van.   “When people are wearing bathing suits, it’s really easy to see problem areas on the exposed skin,” said Trisha Buchanan, mammography technician for the van.   But this van is used for much more than a day at the beach.   “Senator Hollings’ vision for the van is to assist the underserved. We want to reach out to those who aren’t able to get to the center, and we want to promote prevention and wellness throughout our community,” Nicolas said.   Custom built and finished in 1999, the van is equipped to screen for skin, oral, prostate, breast, and cervical cancers.    “We’ve been everywhere from the Family Dollar and Piggly Wiggly parking lots to dirt roads in rural areas,” Horne said. A dream of those linked with the van is to eventually ride to schools, churches, corporations, and communities all over the tri-county area and offer the free screenings.   “We’re planning a trip to Cigna Printing in North Charleston in December where 100 women have already signed up for screenings,” said Aisha Faye, nurse midwifery.   “If we can make it easier for 100 women to get a mammogram on a lunch break by coming directly to them, then we’re getting closer to our goal of truly providing a unique service to the community,” Nicolas said. Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.