This week marks 80 meetings with Ambulance Victoria and the Victorian Government so it has been a long time with no significant progress

"With 800 hours of forced overtime daily across the state, it is obvious we need more staff," Horsham Ambulance Team Leader Paul Jacobs said.

"The last resort is to strike, but I can say it is the last thing any of us want to do."

"The last time was in the 1970's," he said.

Mr. Jacobsis both a Team Leader and Union Representative in the Wimmera and said that, frustratingly, Ambulance Australia and the Victorian Government have had 80 meetings to date without a reasonable outcome.

Teams are using the ambulances as billboards highlighting their issues.

"This is an industrial course of action we have used before to engage the community and spark conversations," he said.

There are four levels of ambulance officers: Advanced Life Support, Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance, and paramedics.

The Ambulance Community Officers are not paramedics but act as first responders and support for the paramedics.

Community Emergency Response Teams comprise volunteer first responders in less populated and more remote areas.

Changes to the classification of the ALS and MICA paramedics have been rejected by AV, arguing they cannot fund it.

"We are currently addressing the key areas we have had the most feedback about," he said.

The union has advocated, without success, for the ACOs to receive an on-call allowance. They are not paid unless they get a callout during their rostered shift of 14 hours.

The VAU initially claimed the same rate for the ACOs as the current on-call rate of $9.08 but revised it to $5.00.

The AV rejected the claim, saying it could not fund it.

The ACOs are often the first on the scene, issuing first aid with support from the paramedics until they arrive.

"The ambulance service would fail without them; they are a critical part of the paramedic's job," Mr Jacobs said.

AV rejected 14 critical issues put forward by the VAU, including increases to unsociable shift allowances, travel allowance for entire shift overtime, clinical instructor allowance, and Improvements to on-call provisions.

Staff retention is an ongoing problem; the average length of service is between five and six years

Mr Jacobs believes forced overtime makes a work-life balance difficult.

"No one in this organization expects to walk out the door on time; it isn't that kind of industry.

"We are all here to help people and provide the best care. If we get a call close to the end of our shift, we still go," he said.

Finish Time and End-of-Shift management policies have been created, but they are impossible to implement without adequate staff," he said.

Mr Jacobs said he was concerned that losing staff at the five-year mark would mean losing experience and mentors.

Horsham, Stawell, and Ararat have promised positions yet to be filled.

The staff shortage extends to the fleet mechanics in Wimmera. One mechanic has had an increased workload of 127 percent over the past six years, and there was no significant pay raise then.

The good news is that an additional mechanic has been assigned in recent weeks.

The hospital system is an added challenge to our officers, with ramping caused by bottlenecks in the emergency departments, especially in the metropolitan and city hospitals.

Mr Jacobs joined Ambulance Victoria 27 years ago after a career in bio-chemistry, health services and pathology.

"I always wanted to do it," he said.