Ambulance Victoria says there is no record of Indigo incident

Executive director of clinical services Mick Stephenson said the service had searched both its dispatch records and patient records but was unable to find a single case that resembled the incident described during last week's council meeting.

Mr Stephenson said the statements could create fear in communities, and have "catastrophic consequences".

"We've searched extensively through months and months of records and we can find no such case," he said.

"We can't find a case that even remotely resembles the case as described....to that extent, we believe, the case doesn't exist."

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At last week's council meeting, deputy mayor Sophie Price said an Indigo Shire resident had died after waiting an hour to be transported to hospital.

Cr Price said the family did not wish to be identified but the incident "highlights, again, unfortunately the worst-case scenario in relation to these really poor [ambulance] response times".

Mr Stephenson said Ambulance Victoria had contacted council, but it declined to provide any further details about the incident.

"We've not been afforded any detail at all," he said.

"Our very firm belief at the moment is that the case does not exist, based on the work we've done."

Mr Stephenson said the service understands there is work to do but would not tolerate people creating a culture of unnecessary fear.

"We report our response times quarterly, we've been very frank about the response times in remote and rural Victoria and we're seeking to constantly try to improve," he said. "To create a fear and a sense that an ambulance might not be available for you, creates a risk that a patient may not call us... that's not something we can tolerate. For them to not call could have catastrophic circumstances."

Mr Stephenson also criticised comments Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy made on Tuesday about ambulances to Myrrhee being dispatched from Mansfield, not Wangaratta.

He said the ambulance service actually amended their dispatch system in early November after feedback from residents, so crews from either Wangaratta and Benalla were now first to respond to Myrrhee.

Cr Price was contacted for comment.

In a statement Cr O'Connor confirmed council had received correspondence from Ambulance Victoria but said she was not privy to specific details of the incident.

Cr O'Connor welcomed Ambulance Victoria's offer to brief council on what was being done to improve patient care.

"Council is in no way refusing to cooperate with Ambulance Victoria and we look forward to meeting with its executive officers," she said.

"I will continue to lobby on behalf of the Indigo community about ambulance response times which are well below the state average and simply unacceptable."