CASUALTIES taken to hospital from the Hillsborough disaster needed "simple intervention" quickly but early resources in staffing and equipment were lacking, a doctor has told the fresh inquest into the 96 deaths.

Bromsgrove man Andrew Brookes was 26 when he was killed at the FA Cup semi-final staged at the Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, in 1989.

The original verdicts of accidental death were quashed in the High Court following a campaign by the Hillsborough families, including Andrew's sister Louise, who has been attending the new Warrington inquest.

The inquest heard many of the patients were suffering from oxygen starvation of the brain and needed their airways expertly cleared but only one person in the A&E department was trained to carry out the procedure for up to 15 minutes as injured fans arrived at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital.

Dr Ed Walker, a junior anaesthetist at Rotherham Hospital, volunteered his services as he watched BBC coverage of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final and recognised there would be casualties.

After arriving at about 3.20pm, he treated nine patients in quick succession before the on-call senior consultant in charge was able to attend and set up a triage.

The hearing was told that the first two casualties he attended to were young boys who both needed resuscitation and later died.

Another boy, aged 15, whom Dr Walker treated was "fitting" but he said he believed he saw him sitting up in intensive care the next morning.

The medic told the jury that the youngster "probably would not have survived had I not been in the room at that time".

Others treated by Dr Walker were said to have survived.

He confirmed that he was unaware a major incident had been declared by the emergency services or the hospital when he arrived.

The inquest heard last week that the Northern General was not informed by anyone that a major incident plan had been implemented and it did not activate its own plan until after the first patients arrived.

Asked by counsel to the inquest, Jonathan Hough QC, what effect that delay had, Dr Walker said: "The main effect was that, certainly for the first very brief intensive period that we were receiving casualties, I was the only person in the accident and emergency department who was able to intubate (clear airway and deliver oxygen) patients.

"We keep coming back to this term intubation but it is the mainstay of resuscitation, certainly of young, previously fit people."

He later added: "These patients needed very simple intervention but they needed it immediately.

"An unusual feature was the age of the patients. They were all - well, not all but mostly - relatively young and had the chance of making good recoverability from these injuries, were they given prompt, effective treatment."