Nevada agencies say cryotherapy death is not their investigation

Questions about a cryotherapy worker who died last week at her south Las Vegas Valley job lingered Monday, but it wasn't clear who was going to find the answers.

Multiple agencies told the Review-Journal they were not responsible for any investigations and that cryotherapy businesses are not regulated like medical clinics or salons.

Rejuvenice, the business where 24-year-old Chelsea Patricia Ake-Salvacion was found dead, does not have at least one business license required to have paying customers, Clark County records show. Company owners could not be reached Monday to take questions about operations but did release a statement about the death.

"We are all incredibly saddened. Chelsea was not only an employee, but a friend to most of us, and a wonderful person with a beautiful soul," the company said Monday through a publicist.

Ake-Salvacion died while using a cryotherapy machine, according to her family and and the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA is not investigating, spokeswoman Teri Williams said Monday. The agency responded when the body was found but won't press on.

"Based on initial findings that the employee used the chamber for personal use outside of business hours, OSHA will not be conducting an investigation,” Williams said Monday.

Las Vegas police were called to Rejuvenice, 8846 S. Eastern Ave., near Pebble Road, about 12:45 p.m. Oct. 20, Metro spokesman Jesse Roybal said Monday. Officers conducted an initial investigation and filed a report but did not deem Ake-Salvacion’s death to be suspicious.

The case was then handed to OSHA and the coroner’s office, Roybal said.

'Never put yourself inside here alone'

In cryotherapy, people stand in chambers where they are exposed to extremely cold temperatures for short periods.

The practice is popular among athletes. Another local chryotherapy business, Sub Zero Recovery Las Vegas, uses a promotional photo of boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a chamber. Chryotherapy is also marketed as a beauty treatment and for weight loss.

Clients at Sub Zero Recovery, near the intersection of Decatur Boulevard and the 215 Beltway, are under constant supervision when they are receiving whole-body cryotherapy, said center manager Dawn Napuunoa.

"You should never put yourself inside here alone," Napuunoa said, pointing to a Juka Cryosauna emanating a fog of vaporized liquid nitrogen.

The business opened in April and has not had any complaint about ill effects from the therapy, she said. Staff members stand on a ladder so they can monitor the clients, and the unit has three off switches.

"We talk to them and pay attention to their facial expressions," Napuunoa said. "We're in constant communication."

But the business is not regulated by any medical board, Napuunoa said, and their procedures and equipment are not monitored by the Food and Drug Administration.

Sub Zero staff also offer cryofacials, but they are not regulated by the Nevada State Board of Cosmetology.

Instead, they complete croytherapy technician training through Cryohealthcare, a Los Angeles company that sells and services cryotherapy equipment and has trademarked the treatment known as cryofacials.

Nevada regulations do not cover the use of cryotherapy for cosmetic procedures, according to the executive director of the cosmetology board.

Gary Landry, board director, said his staff has met with the owners of Rejuvenice, and they are not licensed to perform cryotherapy through his agency.

But Landry said the board did offer a strong suggestion.

"Our course of action was to advise them to close the business," Landry said Monday. "We will follow up tomorrow to make sure they have complied."

Who has oversight?

Whether any health care agency has oversight of cryotherapy centers is unclear.

Neither the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services nor the Southern Nevada Health District regulate such businesses, spokeswomen for the agencies said.

Clark County business records show Rejuvenice is registered to Christian Chateau and Kevin Goujon, who could not be reached for comment Monday. An employee reached on the phone referred the Review-Journal to a public relations company based in London.

County records showed the company's business license is pending, meaning that the Rejuvenice should not have paying customers.

Rejuvenice's website advertises two machines, the "Cryosauna" and the "Cryochamber." The first is a single-user device in which the user's head sticks out the top. Video of the sauna on the website shows a TV host's head sticking out of it while gas billows from underneath.

The Cryochamber requires users to wear a mask, earmuffs, slippers, gloves and underwear. The Cryosauna does not require users to wear a mask or earmuffs.

Rejuvenice's website says it provides “medical therapy” with full-body devices at negative 240 degrees.

In a prepared statement, Rejuvenice owners said they were going to re-examine company procedures.

"All Rejuvenice employees undergo very strict and rigorous training, our cryochambers are never locked, and guests and employees are always supervised during the entirety of the treatment to ensure their safety," the company said Monday.

Rejuvenice operates two locations in the valley. They opened earlier this year. Two more locations were set to open in late October and November.

The location on Eastern appeared to be closed on Monday and a handprinted sign posted outside the door said, "Sorry we are out of nitrogene (sic) and had to close early."

No cause of death yet

Ake-Salvacion was a night supervisor on Oct. 19 and used the machine after closing the business, her uncle, Albert Ake said.

The coroner’s office hadn’t determined Ake-Salvacion’s cause of death on Monday, and investigators are waiting for a toxicology report, which is expected to take six to eight weeks.

Albert Ake on Sunday said medical investigators he spoke to the day his niece was found told the family that her death occurred within seconds. He disagreed with a TV news report in which officials were quoted saying the death was due to “operator error.”

“She knew exactly what she was doing,” he said of his niece, who was an aesthetician, but had also operated and used the cryotherapy machine multiple times.

The coroner's office, which may be the only agency investigating Ake-Salvacion's death, told her family it was looking into circumstances such as which gases she may have inhaled and whether her head was in the device when she died.

Neither the family or medical examiners want to speculate on the cause and manner of death until the lab results are available, Albert Ake said.

Officials haven't made it clear which machine Ake-Salvacion used, but her uncle told the Review-Journal that it was the Cryosauna.

A Rejuvenice employee called to give the family condolences and told them that it wasn't unusual for employees to use the machines unsupervised, Albert Ake said.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites. Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Find him on Twitter: @steve_smoore_rj. Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.