Well said Crab!
"Winchman First, Paramedic second" would seem to be a good premise. I suggest that there are NHS Paramedics who would, given the chance, make excellent winchmen but they have to have the proper aircrew training. Winchman are aircrew, as much part of the team as front enders and to suggest that all you need to do is get someone who already knows all the "important stuff" (medical) and give him a bit of training to get him up to speed on the "other stuff" (being SAR aircrew) and hey presto you have an effective winchman is not only irresponsible but potentially dangerous (to self, survivor and possibly aircraft and crew).
Interesting to watch Highland Rescue and Coastal Rescue programmes this week. On each the RAF winchman was thinking about the difficulty of the winching, fuel state, weather etc whilst treating the casualty and thus modifying his treatment accordingly. That sort of judgement is essential, a product of aircrew training and anyone who thinks you can do without it is either kidding himself or short of cash.
