I thought the original and continued point of mil SAR was to recover FJ mates when they parted company with the jet. As we all know that tasking is <1% of 1% of the jobs (thankfully).
Technically isn't mil SAR meant to be deployable in times of crisis? Not that I can recall such an event. I guess anyone's deployable if reqd.
Whilst the SH mates are definitely better placed for the CSAR role, the yellow/ red & grey fleet do get a fantastic range of jobs which the aircrew would never find elsewhere. That's experience for the mil you literally could keep buying if you kept us going. Not to mention, as stated by 4F above, the
PR is always good.
Can't remember the last time a misinformed journo dissed any SAR crew for abusing the casualty! (That could well be another thread!)