Crab:I want to let you into a little secret:
The mil isn't the be all and end all. Having done 3 tours on Seakings and S61's SAR. 2 in the UK and 1 in N America, I probably have more hours than you in that regard.
I can count less than 10 OVERLAND rescues I did in the 6 years that saw me scrambling over telephone wires or creeping up mountain valleys... As you well know, there comes a limit where even the hallowed don't go
Of the hundreds remaining, they were all done in controlled circumstances where I believed I was coming home!
So lets not start comparing hero mil stories with civvy operators whose remit is not quite the same as yours.
Some FACTS for you:
Paramedics are BETTER trained than your crewmen. They train and practice their art DAILY. Your crewmen are not to the same medical standard as these guys.
In my 6 years as a HEMS driver, in 99% of cases (including in the middle of nowhere) where it was needed - firecrews were either there first or shortly thereafter. It is mainly down to these brave souls who go in and extricate the dead and injured [They also are left behind to pick up the personal belongings and wash all the gore away - people forget that].
Your crews do not have the expertise or the equipment to compete with them.
Class A performance is not a requirement for HEMS. You dont need to comply - to save life.
I can park my EC135 into a 40' circle, can you??? I can land it in all your landing sites and many more. Car parks / roof tops / Quarries...can you.
I can fly 2 patients at any time.
In 11 years as a police/Hems pilot, I have never ever wished I'd had a bigger aircraft.
So what do we have left:
I would call/expect a SAR cab to turn up:
(a) If the job was offshore
(b) If the job required a winch.
(c) If the job was on a large scale.
(d) If the weather was below my minimums (300'c/b / 1km viz.)
(e) If the job was nearer you than me.
That's about it really. You are a fantastic asset. You are on loan to the public (until the next review, atleast!) when you consider that the REAL reason for your existence is to pick up the extremely rare downed mil aircrew.
There is a very real need for additional assistance like yours. There can never be enough aerial assets.
BUT you most certainly are not the number one call out asset and can never be, for reasons (some of which) you so clearly listed:
You're not the nearest.
Might turn the job down due to mil committments
Might be u/s (surely not?).
Might be on another job.
Don't take this personally - but just reconsider for a minute:
Civvies can be and are just as effective as the mil in all sorts of departments. Burst that bubble
