Victoria’s Triple-0 service is struggling to cope with the 95,000 unnecessary calls it receives each year.

That includes an ‘emergency’ call made after a person found they could not pass gas for over 24 hours.

The State Government says non-urgent calls take time from ambulance crews that should be used for responding to life-threatening situations.

State Health Minister Jill Hennessy has launched a new campaign to remind people what is urgent and what is not.

“Some examples include people calling because they can't get to sleep to very, very minor health conditions such as they cut their finger or they haven't passed wind for 24 hours,” she said.

Ms Hennessy said people need to know who else they can call.

“Always call an ambulance if you think you need one,” she said.

“We'll always help. We've put in place a new referral service so people might be referred to a GP or nurse on call or a pharmacist.

“Let's not divert them to minor health ailments that are not genuine emergencies.”

Tony Walker of Ambulance Victoria said ambulances were not actually required in about 20 per cent of the calls the respond to.

“This campaign is not about discouraging people from calling triple-0,” he said.

“It's about reminding the community that the ambulance service is there for real emergencies and if we're tied up with something that's less serious we might not be able to get to someone that really needs our care.

“We know if we get to the really sick people quickly, we make a difference.”