Under the changes, there will be two new medical helicopters, 59 new and upgraded services and 13 peak-period units, three of which will be located in Hallam, Berwick and Pakenham.

Premier John Brumby also announced a merger of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service and Rural Ambulance Victoria to form Ambulance Victoria.

The announcement last Tuesday came a day after the ambulance union released figures showing one in 10people requiring urgent medical attention in Melbourne's outer south-east waited more than 15 minutes.

In Noble Park, Springvale South, Dandenong, Hallam, Doveton, Endeavour Hills, Berwick and Narre Warren, the wait was 16 minutes.

In Beaconsfield and Pakenham, the wait could be more than 20 minutes.

The State Government benchmark is that 90 per cent of code-one emergency calls in Melbourne should be responded to within 15 minutes.

Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie said, while the ambulance caseload had increased by almost 10 per cent last year, funding went backwards by almost 6 per cent.

Mr McGhie said the Government's funding announcement was not enough to fix the crisis. "In our budget submission, we said we need, at a minimum, an extra 350 paramedics over three years."

He said the commitment was at least 90 paramedics short.