MORGANTOWN — Dozens of miners were at Mylan Park on Tuesday for National Mine Rescue Association’s mine rescue contest. On site to serve them was the NIOSH black lung screening mobile unit where miners could obtain free and confidential screenings for the disease.
The mobile unit will remain on site 8 a.m.-4 p.m. through Thursday, said Christopher Parker, public health analyst with the NIOSH Respiratory Health Division, and field coordinator for the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
The unit was set up in front of the Hazel & J.W. Ruby McQuain Community Center. Miners sat at tables under a canopy filling out paperwork — including a work history — before heading inside for the screening.
Inside the unit are two spirometry stations — a breathing test to check for obstructions or airway restrictions, There’s a blood pressure and biometrics station, and an X-ray room. The whole process takes about 30 minutes.
Appointments are recommended, he said, but walk-ins are accepted.
The spirometry and X-ray fall within the federal regulations for screening for coal miners, Parker said. For follow-up, a medical clinic or hospital may have additional components for further analysis.
Miners will receive a letter in eight to 10 weeks, he said, with a report of the results and next-step recommendations for any follow up.
The NIOSH mobile unit crosses the country from March through October, Parker said, visiting mines and community sites. It comes to Morgantown at the end of July for the mine rescue contest.
The unit does a regional rotation and also travels to hot spots, Parker said. A map on the blood pressure station wall is dotted with red pins showing all the site visits, as far west as southern Nevada. But the bulk of the pins form two big red islands in central Appalachia.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to get out there and provide an additional screening/surveillance service.”
They average about 35-40 visits per day, he said. Before COVID, they saw about 2,500 visits per year. Now it’s down to about 600-700.
“We are trying to increase our outreach in order to promote the mobile unit,” he said. And the unit itself is a way to increase screening offerings, in lieu of miners having to go to NIOSH-approved facilities across the country.
“We provide as much as we can for the coal miners,” he said. And we travel all across the country. It’s great.”
It brings the service right to the miners and helps gather important data to share with the public through NIOSH’s Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
The unit will be in Kingwood for a single day next week: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday at Craig Civic Center, 311 Tunnelton St.
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