Does "roll someone over" always mean "turn somebody on their side"

[JACEK1]

Does "roll someone over" always mean "turn somebody on their side"

Hello averybody!
Does "roll someone over" always mean "turn somebody on their side"?
I think I know that "turn somebody on their side" means literally what it means.
What about "roll someone over"?
Here is some context to help you help me. An extract from instructions on how to help the victim of epilepsy.
With your other hand, pull the patient’s knee toward you, slowly rolling him over.
=?
With your other hand, pull the patient’s knee toward you, slowly turning him on his side.
In case of "roll someone over", is there always a mention of turning someone from one side to the other or does it mean, perhaps, turning someone from lying flat on their front to lying on their back?
I would be grateful for comments.

 

[Raymott]

Re: Does "roll someone over" always mean "turn somebody on their side"

Hello averybody!
Does "roll someone over" always mean "turn somebody on their side"?
I think I know that "turn somebody on their side" means literally what it means.
What about "roll someone over"?
Here is some context to help you help me. An extract from instructions on how to help the victim of epilepsy.
With your other hand, pull the patient’s knee toward you, slowly rolling him over.
=?
With your other hand, pull the patient’s knee toward you, slowly turning him on his side.
In case of "roll someone over", is there always a mention of turning someone from one side to the other or does it mean, perhaps, turning someone from lying flat on their front to lying on their back?
I would be grateful for comments.

It means turning them on their side in your example.
If they are flat on their back, you roll them onto their side, keep their under leg straight, and flex out their upper knee to keep them stable.

No, "roll someone over" doesn't always mean "turn them on their side". But you have to think about what you're doing too; you're not blindly following English semantics; you're stabilising an epileptic. Now, if you were going to do cardiac massage (or CPR), you need them on their back. So after rolling them on their side to clear their airway, etc. you have to "roll them over" onto their back.
There might be cases where you might want to roll someone from supine to prone - say a nurse bathing an unconscious patient.
But "roll them over" will always mean put them in the position they should be in for the treatment which you are going to carry out.
(That's all medical - there might be completely different meanings of "roll someone over.")