But Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes says the government has delivered a full-time paramedic for Nagambie.
After a long campaign, in 2018 the government agreed to place a paramedic permanently in Nagambie after pressure from Ms Ryan and the Nagambie Ambulance Community Service Alliance.
But Ms Ryan said while an ambulance vehicle had been placed in town, the station’s rosters showed the town was still not covered by a paramedic for much of the time.
“While Nagambie is funded for a paramedic during the day, the government is hiring in ambulance community officers (ACO) from out of town to cover the night shift,” Ms Ryan said.
“The irony is that these ACOs are being paid at a rate that would pay for a paramedic to be on call for all of these shifts.
“For much of December, about 70 per cent of overnight shifts were not covered at all, let alone staffed by a paramedic.
“All the community is asking for is the same service that is based in Murchison, Euroa and Tatura.
“Those branches are on-call branches, which means they have a paramedic who works during the day and then takes the ambulance home at night.
“If they are called out overnight, they are then supported by an ACO.”
Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said it was disappointing that Ms Ryan “doesn't value the work of Ambulance Community Officers, who play a critical role in providing life-saving treatment in time-critical emergencies”.
“We said we would deliver a full-time paramedic for Nagambie and we’ve done just that - with a dedicated paramedic seven days a week and two Ambulance Community Officers overnight,” Ms Symes said.
“These are highly skilled first responders who work hand-in-hand with paramedics to provide care to the Nagambie community every day.”
In Strathbogie Shire, 42.2 per cent of code one incidents were responded to in less than 15 minutes, with an average response time of 19 minutes and 40 seconds for the period ending December 31, 2019.
Ms Ryan said the government had announced plans to fast-track the employment of an extra 120 paramedics.
“If the government is genuine about improving the service for all Victorians, it will prioritise rural communities which face longest response times,” Ms Ryan said.