Simon Gould's death during running race in Singapore prompts safety calls

The death of a young New Zealand accountant during a running race in Singapore has been described by a coroner as a "sad misadventure'' and prompted calls for more resuscitation devices at sporting events.

Simon Brinsley Gould, 29, had just returned from a two-week work trip to London and Oslo, when he took part in a 10.5km race on March 6 this year, The Strait Times has reported.

An inquest into his death heard that Gould had not been "properly acclimatised to the local climate and high humidity", and had not run for three weeks before the race, the paper reports.

At the 9km mark, Gould who is originally from Auckland, collapsed.

He was taken by stretcher to a private ambulance some 600m to 1km away but it was one of three not equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED) which can restart a heart that has stopped beating.

State Coroner Marvin Bay agreed in his findings with a doctor who treated Gould that AEDs should be readily available at all sporting events.

However, The Strait Times reported that the doctor wasn't sure if an AED would have helped in this case.

"I should also add that it would be beneficial for all ambulances covering such events to be equipped with inotropic drugs, such as adrenaline, and where practicable, be installed with appropriate mechanical resuscitation devices,'' the coroner said.

Coroner Bay concluded that Gould's death, occurring from oxygen deprivation to the brain, was a "sad misadventure''.

Gould moved to Singapore on March 18 last year.

He had been working as a senior analyst for real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management based in Singapore.

A death notice published in the Herald four days after his sudden death paid tribute to a "darling son, brother and friend".