First published in The Times, April 17, 1989

Doctors who were spectators at Hillsborough condemned ``totally inadequate'' emergency facilities at the ground and said there was no organized response to the disaster.

Dr John Ashton, senior lecturer in public health at Liverpool University, said there was a total lack of leadership and no overall plan at the Leppings Lane end. ``Everything conspired to create a catastrophy'', he said. Dr Ashton went to the injured behind the stand about 20 minutes after the tragedy when an appeal for medical help was made. ``At 3.30pm, there were no medical personnel apart from one or two St John Ambulance men. There was no equipment and there was only one ambulance''.

``There were people lying dead and dying and seriously injured all down the back of the terrace steps and inside the turnstile area. There was nobody in charge. It was just total chaos'', he said. ``I had to assume control of the casualty situation myself and basically divide people into three groups, depending on whether they were dead or whether they should have priority to go to hospital when the ambulances arrived.''

Tragedy on the terraces

• 'Mayhem' after gate was opened

• 'We watched them die, innocent figures, lying prostrate and crushed on the green grass'

• Doctors attack 'total chaos' of rescue effort

Police in 'open gate' inquiry

• The man who opened the gate

• Force condemned for failing to avert turnstile disaster

• Senior officers were not willing to concede fault

Mother tells of losing husband and son as she witnessed crush on TV

• Names of the supporters who died are released

• Liverpool welcomes vindication of fans' behaviour

• Thatcher hears of heroic courage

Anfield Kop becomes silent focus of city's mourning

• Thousands at requiem mass as Liverpool mourns deaths

• Sombre lessons soccer failed to learn

Dr Ashton said a full casualty team with resuscitation equipment did not arrive until about 4.15pm. Many nurses and doctors at the match came to help, but there was no equipment. ``There was no oxygen, airway tubes or drips. More lives could have been saved if staff and equipment had arrived earlier'', he said.

When ambulances arrived, they could not get through because the police did not clear a path, Dr Ashton said. ``The whole thing from beginning to end had incompetence running right through the organizational arrangements.''

Dr Glyn Phillips, a Liverpool supporter, who practises at East Kilbride, Strathclyde, said the aftermath was ``sheer mayhem''. He said he was appalled to find there were no defibrillators used to give electric shocks to victims to restart the heartbeat.

Dr Phillips said he was given an oxygen tank to help to resuscitate victims but it was empty. ``There's no doubt this crowd was too big for this ground. Liverpool just filled the end they were given. The police allowed the fans to fill the middle terracing section to the point that they were crammed like sardines yet the two outside portions of the terracing were virtually empty.''

Mr Peter Wells, divisional superviser for the St John Ambulance Woodseats branch, disputed the need for more equipment. He said it would have been impossible to get it to those who were crushed. He said that there were five ambulances on site, two from the St John Ambulance and three from South Yorkshire Ambulance Service, fully staffed to cope with any normal problems arising.

More staff and an extra vehicle had been called in by St John Ambulance in anticipation of heavy crowds. ``But we could not have anticipated anything on this scale'', Mr Wells said. ``We just could not get to them, however many staff or however much equipment we had. People were just pressing down on each other and suffocating but there was no way we could get in there.''

Mr Wells, who was manning one of the ambulances on site before the match began, said that he took an oxygen tank up to the barrier to try to help the fans who were being crushed from behind. ``They had their hands tied to their sides. They were vomiting and could not get the vomit out of their mouths. We tried to free the airways with our hands and give them oxygen'', he said. ``It was a terrible experience which I hope I will never ever see again. They were completely helpless.''

St John Ambulance carry oxygen tanks but not defibrillator equipment because the staff are not trained to use it. ``We provide basic first aid and if it is serious we take the person straight to hospital.'' Answering criticism that casualties were not given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but were left on the field to die, Mr Wells said: ``They were dead already. The doctors told us there was nothing more we could do.''

Mr Wells denied any oxygen tanks had been empty. The South Yorkshire Ambulance Service said that some but not all of its ambulances carried defibrillators. It said not all ambulance staff were trained paramedics who knew how to use the equipment.