BUTLER TWP - His cries for help could be heard across the room.

"Ooooo ... Oooooo," he groaned. "Doc, I feel like I could die."

Lucky for him, five highly-trained emergency personnel were nearby and ready to help.

While one checked his blood pressure, another listened to his heartbeat.

Just when everything seemed OK, he went into cardiac arrest and a breathing tube had to be inserted.

As medical personnel worked to insert the tube, the patient aspirated, blocking the airway so the breathing tube could not be properly inserted. EMS workers responded quickly to clear it out before inserting the tube.

"That helps," he said cheerfully, as EMS workers laughed.

NORMALLY, A PATIENT

wouldn't be talking with a breathing tube down his throat.

But for SimMan, it's just one more way he lets EMS personnel know they've done the right procedure to correct his problem.

SimMan is fast becoming a favorite of EMS personnel in training because he closely simulates what working on a real human being is like.

He breathes. He vomits. His lungs will collapse. And if he isn't given the proper treatment for his injuries, like a real person, he will die.

And luckily for the students enrolled in the emergency services program at Butler County Community College, SimMan is a part of the curriculum.

"One of the missions of the college is to incorporate technology into all our programs, and SimMan is part of that," said Vern Smith, BC3's EMS and police training services director. "We now have a plastic mannequin who can closely simulate a real person."

SimMan has been at BC3 since June and more than a thousand students have been trained on him, Smith said.

SimMan comes with a computer program that allows the instructor to dictate what kinds of injuries he will have and how he will respond to treatment.

"The neat thing is he can respond to questions from the EMS personnel as he's being treated," Smith said.

The other unique feature is the instructor can monitor a computer screen to determine if the procedure is being done correctly while students are working on SimMan, Smith said.

BC3 is one of only two colleges in Western Pennsylvania that has a SimMan. The other is the Center for Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

One of the reasons more facilities do not have one is the cost, Smith said. SimMan costs $32,000, of which more than half was paid for by a federal grant. BC3 was responsible for 40 percent of the cost, Smith said.

"But it's well worth the money," Smith said. "And he's supposed to be durable enough to throw off a roof if I wanted to, but I haven't tried that one yet."

EMS STUDENTS

WHO

have worked on SimMan agree he is worth the money.

Kevin Holland, a flight nurse with Stat Medevac who is at BC3 for additional training, said SimMan can simulate certain situations a regular dummy can't do.

"It's much more realistic," Holland said. "You run into situations on him that you can't on the other dummies, and it's been very helpful."

Cheryl Burkett, a flight nurse with Stat Medevac, said she likes how realistic SimMan is when she's working on him.

"It's more lifelike and it's easier sometimes with the scenario they give you cause you can see the results, and you don't have to use your imagination like you do with the other dummies," Burkett said.

Cheryl Adams, another flight nurse with Stat Medevac, said it's been beneficial to her to be able to work on something as realistic as SimMan.

"This is like real life," Adams said. "This is a wonderful tool for testing your skills, because you can't do things to him that don't need done like you can with the other dummies. If you do something unnecessary to him, he lets you know it."

SimMan has died on all three of the students at one point or another.

For Holland and Burkett, it was because of a failed airway they improperly identified.

But for Adams, it was a little more traumatic.

"He died on me the very first time I ever used him," she said. "I wasn't expecting it and it taught me to be a lot more careful with him in the future."