I think HF has some valid points. Funding model and transparency of governance are key issues. I wasn't joking when I suggested that the RNLI get involved is SAR. They are, after all, key players in the UK rescue business. Their 'volunteer' model wouldn't necessarily work in aviation where not paying the professionals at the sharp end may produce some difficulties.
When I was involved with the start of HEMS in the UK the model I put forward was based on commercial sponsorship, something I believe still has a place, but it was badly handled and opportunities lost. When the 'charity' concept arrived it was very much opposed by the people in charge of my project for they feared losing control of this embryonic service. Time has proven that the charity model can work and yes, the operators and the customers have to cede control to the funders. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
As a funding model HF is right to observe that those best equipped to raise funds are not necessarily those best able to manage the service. If we wanted to create 23 Air Ambulance Units in UK we wouldn't have started the way we did - but we are where we are and every charity values it's autonomy almost above everything else.
What chance of bringing them into a pool with the government - zero, like me they trust them not. But what about in a pool with RNLI assets - that could also be pooled with SAR too? Much closer to a possibility I would suggest.
The RNLI could benefit from central funding and then for the first time in UK history you have some joined-up Public Service Helicopter/Rescue/HEMS units that have a charitable foundation, transparent management with key professionals employed to do all critical functions. Nationwide, efficient and effective with all the economies of scale required for success financially.
Nobody can get money out of the public quite like the RNLI.
Nobody has to profit from the misery of victims. I think that might almost be a definition of PUBLIC SERVICE. The thought of some fat-cat in an office making cash out of people in trouble sucks just as the notion that the military have an automatic right to be represented in this field. Focus on the needs of the customers, not the players.
G.
