CoReCCT: The Awake Prone Study: Awake prone positioning in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure not due to COVID-19: A randomised controlled trial

Turning a patient with severe breathing failure onto their stomach while they are still awake could reduce the need for a breathing tube and a ventilator. This trial is part of a larger effort called CoReCCT, which bundles multiple critical care studies together to cut through the administrative red tape that often slows down research in intensive care units. The problem is straightforward: acute respiratory failure kills or injures many patients, and the best way to position them before they need a ventilator is not settled. If the awake prone positioning works, it could spare patients the risks of sedation, muscle paralysis, and ventilator-associated lung injury. The trial also tests better ways to insert breathing tubes and to wean patients off ventilators afterward. Success would mean fewer days in intensive care, lower costs for the NHS, and a simpler, more reliable playbook for frontline doctors. The project does not promise a cure, but it systematically tests four practical interventions along the patient’s entire care pathway, from the ward to the ventilator and back.