Starr Williams, center, a registered nurse at Kansas University Hospital, reacts as she approaches a pelvic mannequin during a breech birth training situation Tuesday at the hospital in Kansas City, Kan. KU Hospital will be training doctors around the country in such obstetrical emergency situations using the mannequins.

A mannequin that resembles a newborn baby awaits another simulated birth.

Kansas City, Kan. ? Aimee Luett took a glance over her shoulder and called for assistance.

With no help accessible, Luett focused on the baby being born in front of her. Urging the mother to push, she gently took hold of the baby’s pelvis.

With a deft twist, the child is out. The dozen or so doctors, nurses and technicians send up a cheer behind her.

Luett then promptly handed the wet baby to labor and delivery nurse manager Leigh Collins, who toweled the baby off and shoved it back into the disembodied pelvic area.

“OK,” said Dr. Elaine Carroll, looking at the others in the room. “Who’s next?”

No, it’s not a scene from a horror movie; it’s a birthing simulator – a pelvic and baby mannequin set used by obstetrician staff at Kansas University Hospital to prepare for difficult births.

About 120 health care workers from KU Hospital attended a training sessions in Practical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training on Monday and Tuesday, using lifelike mannequins to practice emergency situations.

Dr. Carl Weiner, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology for the hospital, Americanized the United Kingdom-developed training system.

“It’s not that the procedures or the birthing process are that much different,” he said. “But there are different drugs, different terms.”

The training system – known as PROMPT – sees a team of nurses, doctors, technicians and even clerical staff working together with the various mannequins to simulate rare and dangerous birth situations.

“We’re talking about performance under pressure,” he said. “We make people respond to various clinical scenarios.”

Issues, such as maternal hemorrhaging, breached delivery and how to properly deliver a baby whose shoulders may not be able to pass through are all covered. The most common injuries during birthing are largely preventable, Weiner said, and account for millions in malpractice lawsuits.

By using this training, which Weiner said has been shown to work, health workers will know what to do in an emergency situation before they’re thrown into a trial-by-fire situation.

“You give any of these people a written exam, and they’d be in the 90th percentile,” he said.

But the training is like the difference between having book knowledge of the perfect golf swing and actually being able to do it. The difference is hands-on practice, Weiner said.

Currently, KU is the only hospital in the United States that has the PROMPT training system, which means doctors from all over the country will come to Kansas City, Kan., to receive the training.

Hospitals also will be able to purchase the training materials from KU, which owns the American license.

“To purchase all the training materials, it’s very inexpensive,” Weiner said. “We’re not talking about high-fidelity training. And that’s the beauty.”

Weiner said he would eventually like to train everyone in the obstetrics wing of the hospital with PROMPT and each would go through the training annually.

“There are times when a birth is going to happen when there aren’t any physicians,” he said. “What’s the point of only training physicians if there aren’t any around?”

As for Luett, a registered nurse, the ability to go through the actual motions of a delivery in a multidisciplinary setting has been positive.

“It’s a little bit awkward at first with the mannequin,” she said. “But it’s good to know what to do in these situations.”