Frequent and extended sun exposure is one of the risk factors for skin cancer. So is getting a blistering sunburn.
Those factors put lifeguards at increased risk of developing the disease.
Scripps Health will offer free skin cancer screenings to lifeguards and other first responders Monday at the San Diego Lifeguard Headquarters on Quivira Court in Mission Bay.
Dr. Hugh Greenway, dermatologist at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, said the annual screening event can save lives.
“Usually every year, we’ll have two or three skin cancers and probably one or two melanomas that we’ll diagnose," Greenway said. "It’s like with other cancers, the early diagnosis of whatever kind of cancer it is is what’s most important.”
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, one in five people will develop skin cancer during their lifetime.
