Fil-Am spa worker suffocated in cryotherapy chamber: coroner

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The Clark County Office of the Coroner medical examiner has concluded that the official cause of death of 24-year old Filipino-American Chelsea Ake Salvacion was due to lack of oxygen.

The Clark County Coroner's Office said Salvacion died of asphyxia, suffocating in an oxygen-poor environment. Her death was determined to be an accident.

The Coroner's Office could not determine whether or not Salvacion was standing or not when she became unconscious and is not clear for how long she was in the chamber before she passed away at the Rejuvenice spa.

The cryotherapy chamber uses nitrogen to cool the chamber. During this process, the nitrogen displaces most of the oxygen inside the chamber. Normal air is about 21 percent oxygen when in use. Oxygen levels inside the chamber can drop to less than 5 percent. Breathing air with this low level of oxygen can quickly result in unconsciousness and then death.

Salvacion's family lawyer, Richard Harris of Richard Harris Law Firm, spoke to Balitang America and said that the family is still in a state of shock, especially Chelsea's mom, Patricia. Salvacion was an only child.

"I think we all believe that it was accidental in terms of no one tried to kill Chelsea, there was no foul play. But that doesn't mean that her death was accidental such as act of God. It's my belief that the death was the result of defective machine because of the over delivery of nitrogen it push out all of the oxygen so Chelsea was overcome by too much nitrogen," he said.

Harris said that his law firm and team were retained by the Ake family to investigate thoroughly the cryotherapy machine's manufacturer and design.

"Chelsea, in the 2 or 3 days leading up to the accident, was sending text messages to a friend where she was concerned about too much nitrogen is being delivered," said Harris.

Harris added that Salvacion's tragic death brings a lot of awareness and pressing regulation issues on public health.

"Here is an industry that claims to have therapeutic benefit that put you in a machine that can kill you. Yet, absolutely no regulation, no inspection, no licensing, no monitoring, no requirements or whatsoever," he said.

Although the Rejuvenice salon's door shows it is open for business, the notice from the State of Nevada Department of Business Industry is still posted, stating the facility failed to secure and maintain mandatory workers' compensation insurance. Officials have said it had no license to operate.

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Las Vegas clinic shut down after Fil-Am's death

LAS VEGAS - The tragic death of 24-year old Filipino-American Chelsea Ake Salvacion has left many
questions unanswered.

Salvacion was found inside a liquid nitrogen cryogenic chamber where it's believed she froze to death.

Investigators are now trying to find out what really happened on the night of October 20th inside the cryogenic chamber of the Rejuvenice spa.

"She is the most amazing. I don't understand why God would take her away from us. I don't understand," said her boyfriend Lee Inoue.

In a phone interview with Balitang America, Salvacion's boyfriend of eight years recalls how he found out about her death.

"I received a message from her co-worker to call her on Tuesday so I called her co-worker and find out what was going on, and that was when they told me they found her that morning," Inoue said.

Inoue lived with Salvacion in Las Vegas earlier this year but moved to Hawaii for a job.

The last time he saw his girlfriend in person was in August when he visited her in Las Vegas.

He insists Salvacion was experienced in operating the cryogenic chamber and does not believe it was operator error that led to her death.

"I don't think that was her fault at all. She's been doing that on a daily basis. She worked 10, 12 hour days there, multiple times a week, she sought endless amount of clients," he said.

Inoue confirms Salvacion's body is already in Hawaii and a memorial service for her is scheduled for Thursday at Nuuanu mortuary.

"I love that girl very much. She was my soulmate, my best friend. She was the most selfless and kind person I've ever met. She always put other people before herself," he said.

Meantime, the State of Nevada Department of Business and Industry: Division of Industrial Relations Workers Compensation Section closed down the two locations of the Rejuvenice spa.

The notice outside posted on the door says that the facility failed to secure and maintain mandatory workers compensation insurance. Officials say it had no license to operate.

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinay found frozen dead in cryotherapy chamber

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A 24-year-old Filipina was found frozen to death inside a cryotherapy chamber at a clinic in Nevada last week.

Chelsea Ake-Salvacion, the manager of Rejuvenice in Henderson, Nevada, was found dead by her co-workers in one of the salon's cryotherapy chambers.

Born to a Mexican-Hawaiian mother, Salvacion's biological dad is a Filipino living in Hawaii.

"The last person we ever thought that something would happen is Chelsea because she was full of life, so happy, so positive," her uncle, Albert Ake, said in a Skype interview with Balitang America.

Ake-Salvacion worked as a manager at a clinic that offers cryotherapy. It involves exposing the body to negative 240 degree Fahrenheit temperature in a cold chamber.

Used by international celebrities and sports athletes, it is said to relieve pain, accelerate tissue healing, strengthen the immune system, detoxifies, provides instant anti-aging effects, and even burns 500 to 800 calories in one 3-minute session.

Ake-Salvacion's uncle said it was painful to identify his niece's body at the Coroner's Office.

"I was hoping that when I get there, there was a mix-up. There was a wrong person there, it wasn't her. But unfortunately, it was her," he said.

Although the Clark County Coroner's Office has yet to release the official cause of death of Ake-Salvacion, her uncle said the Coroner's Office told him that his niece died within seconds.

"The Coroner Officer on that night, Tuesday night, reassured me that she died instantly. That she died in seconds. That she never suffered," he said.

Although Ake-Salvacion was alone in the cryotherapy clinic, Ake said she is knowledgeable and competent in operating the cryo chamber machine.

"The question is not 'Oh, was she experienced?' Of course she was. She's been with the company since it opened, the first clinic that they had, she's been with them since. She's worked and done that treatment many, many times. Employees are known to do it on their own when they're slow or nothing's going on or after their shift. They go in do a quick treatment," he said.

Joey Aquino, a Pinoy cardiologist of Nevada Heart and Vascular Center, explains the human body's natural reaction.

"I think they only do it for 3 minutes or less because a little more than that hypothermia kicks in and the first things that will happen you go into a panic mode. Your heart rate will increase. Your body will try to get you out of that situation. But after a few more minutes after that, everything tends to shut down," he said.

Ake added that he and his family are patiently waiting for the final pathology report from Chelsea's autopsy.

"She loved the salon. She loved what she was doing. It was just something went wrong and we have to find out what because we don't want any other technician or clients doing this," he said.

In an email sent to Balitang America, the owner of Rejuvenice salon said that everyone in their company is devastated by the accident and that they are scrutinizing each and every of their internal procedures to ensure that this won't happen again.

Read more on Balitang America

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com