We must also remember the USCG relies mainly upon surface craft for search and rescue....as aircraft are tasked with other duties more often than not since 9/11 and advent of the "War on Drugs".
My recollection of previous searches for downed commercial helicopters relied upon non-government sources for the bulk of the search effort as the Coasties are very few and far between despite the frequency of SAR call outs in the GOM.
That is the price we pay for multiple demands for limited resources.