À quel point la position latérale de sécurité aide-t-elle ?

À quel point asks about the degree or extent of something, so it often corresponds to how much, to what extent, or how far in English.

In this sentence, it asks:

• To what extent does the recovery position help?
• How much does the recovery position help?

So yes, it is very close to how much, but it can sound a little more like to what extent in careful English.

This is because French is using inversion to form a question.

In a standard written question, French often puts the verb before the subject pronoun:

• elle aide → aide-t-elle ?

The extra -t- is not a separate word and has no meaning by itself. It is inserted only for pronunciation, to make the transition smoother between two vowel sounds:

• aide-elle would sound awkward
• so French uses aide-t-elle

This is called a euphonic t.

Yes, it is repeating the subject, and that is normal in this kind of formal question structure.

French often uses complex inversion when the subject is a full noun phrase rather than just a pronoun:

• statement: La position latérale de sécurité aide.
• question: La position latérale de sécurité aide-t-elle ?

So the noun phrase appears first, and then a matching subject pronoun is added after the verb:

• la position latérale de sécurité → elle

This is very common in formal written French.

Yes. In spoken French especially, you could say:

• À quel point la position latérale de sécurité aide ?

You could also use est-ce que:

• À quel point est-ce que la position latérale de sécurité aide ?

All three are understandable, but they feel different:

• aide-t-elle ? = more formal, written, polished
• est-ce que ... ? = very common and neutral
• rising intonation only = more spoken, less formal

The core noun is position.

Then French adds information to describe what kind of position it is:

• latérale = lateral / side
• de sécurité = of safety / safety

So the structure is:

• position = position
• position latérale = lateral position
• position latérale de sécurité = recovery position / safety side position

Even if English uses a more natural term like recovery position, French builds it more literally.

Because in French, many adjectives come after the noun.

Here:

• position = noun
• latérale = adjective

So:

• une position latérale

This is normal French word order. English often puts adjectives before the noun, but French often puts them after it.

Yes, in effect it describes the noun phrase, even though it is a prepositional phrase rather than a single adjective.

Literally:

• de sécurité = of safety

In context, it means something like:

• for safety
• used for safety
• safety-related

So position latérale de sécurité is the established French term for the recovery position.

Because the subject is singular:

• la position = the position

So the verb must also be singular:

• la position ... aide

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Les techniques ... aident-elles ?

Here it is being used intransitively, because there is no direct object stated.

The sentence does not say exactly whom or what it helps. It simply asks about the extent to which it helps.

So:

• aider quelqu’un = to help someone
• but also ça aide = that helps

This sentence is closer to that second use:

• How much does it help?

Sometimes à quel point can appear in emotional statements, especially in sentences like:

• Tu ne sais pas à quel point...
  • You don’t know how much / how deeply...

But here, in a direct question, it is straightforward and informational. It simply asks about the degree of usefulness.

It is natural, but it sounds somewhat formal because of the inversion:

• aide-t-elle ?

You are likely to see this in:

• writing
• educational material
• articles
• formal spoken contexts

In everyday conversation, many speakers might prefer:

• À quel point est-ce que la position latérale de sécurité aide ? or even
• La position latérale de sécurité aide à quel point ?
  though that last one is less standard and more conversational in feel.