(L.A.) Mona Towle, 56, Died in a Hyperbaric Chamber

Case Number: 2009-07462

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 56-year-old Caucasian female that occurred at a hyperbaric chamber on Catalina Island.

The coroner’s office identified the woman as Mona Towle of Redlands.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Air Embolus

RIP MONA TOWLE (September 9, 1953 – November 1, 2009)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Sunday at 11:44 a.m.

The decedent was a diver who had been seeking her deep-sea certification. She was rushed from Avalon to Two Harbors, where she was to be treated for decompression sickness or some other sudden medical problem.

Deputies, county fire paramedics and the Baywatch Avalon crews worked to revive the woman after she suddenly surfaced from more than 65 feet below at a marine sanctuary just north of Avalon’s casino.

The woman reportedly had scuba equipment trouble and had successfully ascended more than halfway at a slow-enough rate to avoid “the bends” – a painful concentration of nitrogen in the bloodstream caused by surfacing too quickly.

Deputies said the diver was rushed by paramedics via boat to a hyperbaric chamber operated by USC at Two Harbors, and that at one point her heart stopped.