<Li> Good observation of and access to the airway should be possible . </Li> <Li> The position itself should not give rise to any injury to the casualty . </Li> <P> The earliest recognition that placing unconscious patients on their side would prevent obstruction of the airway was by Robert Bowles, a doctor at the Victoria Hospital in Folkestone, England . In 1891 he presented a paper with the title' On Stertor, Apoplexy, and the Management of the Apoplectic State' in relation to stroke patients with noisy breathing from airway obstruction (also known as stertor). </P> <P> This paper was taken up by anaesthetist Frederick Hewitt from the London Hospital who advised a sideways position for postoperative patients . This thinking was, however, not widely adopted, with surgical textbooks 50 years later still recommending leaving anaesthetised patients in a supine position . </P>

The recovery position can help conscious or unconscious victims maintain an open airway