There is a looming demographic gap for UK SAR paramedics since the posts have traditionally been filled by ex-mil winchpersons but there is no training pipeline for those any more.
The advantages that the mil guys and girls had was that they often had other mil aviation backgrounds - support helicopters, Nimrods etc and went through a rigorous selection and training process (which many failed) so that only the best got through. That quality was evident when the paramedic training was introduced early 2000s and all but a few lapped it up and went onto attain their paramedic status.
There has long been an argument that training an existing paramedic to become a winchperson must be cheaper - the problem is the length of training required to be safe and effective on the wire and as part of a crew - those hundreds or thousands of hours of previous aviation and military exposure to risk can't be reproduced or replicated in a few short hours of wet and deck winching.
I had thought that part of the UKSAR contract was to set up a proper training school to ensure continuity for SAR rearcrew and perhaps the latest adverts are a sign that this might be happening - it's success will very much depend on the quality of the individuals they recruit and the rigour of the training.
Don't know if there is a big enough budget to achieve what is required within the current contract.......and they would probably have to up the salary by £20K to tempt those still left in the mil to jump ship.........