Rather strange to surmise that this mission would be beyond the scope of the existing commercial operators, who have performed this function for DECADES with a variety of types, both onshore and offshore based.
These missions are flown by a mixture of ex-military and civilian pilots, by training for the particular mission, with the equipment to be utilised. SAR missions are performed worldwide, by a variety of commercial and military operators and are simply not the domain of any particular operating entity.
The number of military crews is not the issue, as the contract will be placed with a commercial operator, with the ability to provide trained crews, role-equipped aircraft and the desired availability.
The average North Sea pilot has an extensive background in a multitude of operating environments and missions. With the number of current and past SAR operations, former military aircrew and continuing training, commercial operators are able to meet any contractural requirement. Recent lay-offs in the industry provide for an (unfortunately) extensive pool of extremely competent and skilled pilots waiting in the wings. This is the bread and butter of the commercial helicopter business, meeting contractural requirements with innovation and excellence. If someone has the need and the money to pay for the requirement, commercial operators will provide the service.
If the contract requirement specifies the Super Puma, the aircraft is available from the factory configured for automated SAR operations, a number of these aircraft are already performing this task. This will additionally ensure competitive bidding, as no single operator will be able to dominate the market.
Do not confuse the Super Puma (AS332L) with the Puma (AS330J), the two types are totally different in virtually every aspect of performance and capability. The Super Puma offers significant performance increases over the 330J, or the S61N, for SAR operations, particularly for diversionary single engine operations from an offshore base of operations.
This would be a great opportunity to expand operations for the commercial operators, but would essentially be an expansion of their existing operations. Consequently, there would probably be no shortage of crews ready to work a nice long term 14/14 schedule, with the ability to live where they wish.