and are medically trained to the same standard as the Forces
Are you suggesting that Jigsaw winchmen are Paramedic registered.
In terms of training, winchmen can be trained from any walk of life provided they have the right aptitude and attitude - the military guys don't arrive at the Squadron already trained. For winch ops it is more difficult as more experience is required and that can only be found by either very long training courses
Whilst indeed true, Mil winchman training is also long and intensive. To fully train a RAF winchman takes over 2 1/2 years (not including basic training).
Police trained observers, not winch trained I know but well versed in flir/nvg etc. Flying in crap weather.
Chalk and cheese.
What do you class as crap weather? When was the last time you saw a police helicopter (not that you would be able to see it) grovelling through the mountains at night on NVG with 200m viz and 100 ft cloudbase. Also you would have to be trained to use radar and operate a winch. The latter is not a quick look at winch in or winch but takes a long time to learn (minimum of a year for Mil winch ops).
What I am trying to say is that you cannot pick up Joe Bloggs from the street and train them in a couple of months no matter what their background. I hope they have taken into account the cost of very long training course for each of their untrained rearcrew!! (or they are happy to accept a low standard).