The leader of one of those teams, in January 2013, had a similar rant that resulted in a two-page spread in the Guardian with a headline "Privatising search-and-rescue service and closing bases 'will cost lives'". It was rubbish then and same old same old is rubbish now.
We've always had to walk back. It was always a bonus if you got lifted off. We've always been on our own with dead bodies: well it's not 'life-saving flight' is it?. My first call-out in 1989 was a perfect example of those two points (still on youtube!).
And carrying heavy gear back down was never a problem with the Sea King because it wasn't powerful enough to carry it up to 4000 feet in the first place. The new contract is quite specific about the aircraft being capable of delivering a substantial pile of kit plus 6 MRT to that altitude at ISA +15C in still air with 30 min endurance remaining.
None of these guys read the contract spec or CAP 999 or have bothered during several decades of working with helicopters to find out anything useful about them. They try to tell us that the service is not equivalent. They are trying to measure Bristow performance without having any idea of what the requirement is, or why the requirement is expressed in the way that it is. And never having measured RAF and Fleet Air Arm performance they will never be in a position to make a proper comparison.
These four teams do a very large proportion of the MR jobs in Scotland. One of them does nearly 100 per year sometimes. Or as Keswick or Wasdale might say, only a hundred? Unfortunately, the number of jobs they do does not mean that they are capable of distorting the space-time continuum in a manner that will make helicopters fly safely in every conceivable circumstance. And as I am sure all rotorhead ppruners realise, the weight of large egos can seriously damage airworthiness.
As for "agencies" restricting tasking in some way, there is an easy test.
How many jobs per year did RAF Lossie do? Answer: 215.
How many jobs per year does BHL Inverness do: Answer: 281
How many jobs per year did HMS Gannet do? Answer: 220.
How many jobs per year does BHL Prestwick do: Answer: 351
(Boulmer only did 120 per year and their load is shared across four bases, so that closure cannot explain the increases.)
Adjusting for the Boulmer effect, they are still doing over 30% more jobs than the military were doing before. This is because the aircraft are more capable and more reliable. Amazingly, they don't leak hydraulic oil over SAR passengers, go on fire, break down on the top of hills, turn up for jobs unable to take SAR passengers, or have to keep running on the HLS because they daren't shut down. All that is in the past yet somehow there are people who are close to this and they haven't noticed.
At the same time, MRT are safer in the air and on the wire than in any territory anywhere in the world.
Any hour, Any day, Any weather ...