Whilst not wishing to join in a military/civilian bun fight, I'd like to point out a few glaring omissions in a few of the previous replies with regard to the Senior Service.
"At least the "crabs" have a professional SAR school unlike the "wafu's" who have none and have even cut back their SAR commitments!"
Whilst it is true that the RN have no dedicated SAR School, this does not mean crews are not fully trained before taking up a SAR appointment. This is done on the Squadron by the QHI/QAI. The reason this is possible is because, unlike a significant number of RAF crews who are ab initio students, all RN SAR crews have completed a minimum of two and a half years, and normally far longer than that, on an ASW Squadron before being selected for SAR duties. As ASW warriors they spend an inordinate amount of time as their primary role, you guessed it, sitting in a hover in all weathers day and night.
To return to the civ/mil thread, I would not for one moment suggest that it is beyond the capabilities of any competent crew, civil or military, to carry out maritime SAR with the correct equipment and suiteable training. However I would caution against assuming that just because you have x thousand rotary hours and equipment is available which 'should' enable the a/c to establish a coupled hover in all weathers makes you an instant expert. I have known too many friends who are no longer with us who can bear testament to the extremely unforgiving environment within which maritime SAR is conducted.
Safe Flying.