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Doctor explains why a ventilator patient could be placed on their stomach

Intensive care doctor Dr Ron Daniels explains why patients on ventilators are sometimes laid on their stomach.

You may have seen images from ICU wards in hospitals, of coronavirus patients lying on the stomaches while being treated. Too many this looks counter intuitive, but as Dr Daniels tells us, it's all about gravity.

Dr Daniels, explains when a patient is lying on their back it means that the back part of the lungs are compressed by their bowels creating three zones.

This ultimately means that the patient gets less oxygen. So, clever medics use the patient's own body position to help gravity get more oxygen into their blood.