The Queensland coroner has found an Indigenous man who died after being restrained by police was should not have been given a sedative while he was handcuffed and having breathing difficulties.

Key points: Police and paramedics faced a "challenging, dynamic and stressful" situation in dealing with Shaun Coolwell, the coroner found

Police and paramedics faced a "challenging, dynamic and stressful" situation in dealing with Shaun Coolwell, the coroner found Mr Ryan said administering Mr Coolwell the sedative Midazolam was "inappropriate"

Mr Ryan said administering Mr Coolwell the sedative Midazolam was "inappropriate" But the coroner made no adverse findings against the paramedics

Police and ambulance officers were called to a house at Kingston, south of Brisbane, in October 2015, where 33-year-old Shaun Charles Coolwell was in an agitated state.

An inquest into Mr Coolwell's death heard he had injured himself and was under the influence of amphetamines.

Handing down his findings in Brisbane on Monday, coroner Terry Ryan said the scene that confronted officers at the house was "undoubtedly challenging, dynamic and stressful".

"Mr Coolwell was clearly in need of restraint for his own wellbeing when Constables (Tamzin) Zarzycki and (Barend) Truter arrived," Mr Ryan said.

Mr Coolwell was handcuffed, lying face down in a hallway.

"It is clear from the review of the body-worn camera footage that while Mr Coolwell was restrained in a prone position for almost 10 minutes, he only struggled for a very short time at the beginning of this period," Mr Ryan said.

Police asked ambulance officers to give Mr Coolwell a sedative, but Mr Ryan found "the administration of Midazolam was clearly inappropriate" in the circumstances.

"There was a basic failure to recognise and respond to his clinical deterioration," Mr Ryan said.

Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) medical director Stephen Rashford told the inquest Mr Coolwell was deeply unconscious and had ineffective breathing before the drug was injected.

"He was almost certainly in cardiac arrest at this point," Dr Rashford said.

Mr Ryan found there was no independent assessment of Mr Coolwell's condition immediately before the sedative was administered.

But he did not make adverse findings against the treating paramedics.

"I am unable to find that his death was caused by any oversights on their part," he said.

Mr Coolwell's family attended the inquest but were not in court when the coroner's findings were handed down. ( ABC News: Ellie Sibson )

The QAS no longer uses Midazolam to sedate violent or aggressive patients.

Another drug called Droperidol is used instead.

Restraint and coronary disease also factors

The coroner found that restraining Mr Coolwell in a prone position contributed to his death, but it was not the sole cause.

Mr Coolwell also suffered from advanced coronary artery disease.

"It was not possible to separate the various factors that contributed to Mr Coolwell's death," the coroner found.

Mr Coolwell's older brother died in similar circumstances in 2013.

Bradley Coolwell died of respiratory and cardiac failure, after being restrained by security officers at Logan Hospital.

Mr Coolwell's family attended the inquest, but were not at court when the findings were handed down.