Kern Medical Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

Kern Medical announces the launch of the Central Valley’s first adult Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU). 

The EMU will begin operations on Monday January, 29^th 2018 with a press conference at 8:30 AM and early access to the EMU prior to the press conference at 7:45 AM.  Meet our first patient, see the EMU and learn more about this valuable resource that could impact thousands of Kern County residents living with epilepsy.

What: Press Conference in honor of the launch of the Central Valley’s first Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

When:  Monday January 29^th, 2018 7:45 AM filming in EMU, 8:30 Press Conference

Where:  Kern Medical 1700 Mount Vernon Avenue, Lobby

Visuals and Interviews:  Speak with the first patient to be admitted to the EMU and be granted early access to the EMU for filming prior to the press conference.

The Importance of a local EMU: The EMU is built to serve the nearly one third of epilepsy patients who experience trouble controlling seizures with medication alone.  Patients are typically admitted to the EMU for three to seven days causing extreme hardship on families forced to travel hundreds of miles to receive this level of care.

The EMU is structured to provide 24/7 monitoring of patients, with a goal of capturing five seizures or events during admission.  The information gathered during a patient’s stay will help doctors reevaluate treatment methods, including referrals for surgery, that could be life changing.  There are more than 33,000 epilepsy patients in Kern County alone.

Additional Information:  Established in association with the USC Neurorestoration Center of the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, the program at Kern Medical completes the USC Epilepsy Consortium.  The Consortium is comprised of four additional National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) comprehensive epilepsy centers.  Local neurologists and neurosurgeons in Bakersfield and Visalia now have access to the vast shared resources of the USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation/USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles Epilepsy Center, and Hoag Epilepsy Center.