Anatomically many of these are good reasons and make good sense when treating in the field.
I was originally taught, seems like a million years ago now, that left lateral recumbent position, from a cardiovascular point of view, was for perfusion in order to keep the heart in the lowest and thus best perfused position.
It still makes sense when you consider that shock, inadequate tissue perfusion, is due to either volume depletion or vasodilation. Thus keeping the heart in the most favorable position with gravity to perfuse the rest of the body still make good sense. As many have already noted, there is no perfect cookbook recipe for medicine in the field. Each situation requires a different modification to our treatment plan,and this is what separates the green medic from the well seasoned ones.
Thankfully experience, training, and forums like this make us all better seasoned.
