Your points are well put Tallsar but I have heard them all before in the justification for SARH.
This process, which started as such a clean piece of paper that you couldn't even say the word 'helicopter' because the blue sky thinkers wanted to be able to consider things like balloons for chrissakes, has been compromised at every turn (inevitably, some might say). Whether for political aquiesence, as with the basing, or to allow more wriggle room for profit, as with the nightime closures, the whole process has lost integrity and focus with various interested parties all pulling in different directions.
I have no problem with the civilianisation of UKSAR - it is inevitable given the MoDs pathetic support of the milSAR and helicopter procurement overall - but the mechanism to select the future provider seems to be inexorably moving towards the cheapest solution rather than the best.
Air ambulances came into being because land ambulances struggled to meet the clinically desireable 'golden hour' and Devon is well served during daylight by 2 of them. At night, that golden hour ceases to exist if you close Chivenor and the use of '1 hour after take off' as a measure of proposed efficiencies with faster helicopters conveniently ignores the RS45 at night which would mean 1 hour 15 from call to overhead Chiv for Culdrose and 1 hour 40 for Valley. How is this an improvement???
I repeat my belief that SAR should not be provided on a 'for profit' basis because, as we have seen from the banking crisis, once money is involved, anything can be justified by the need to make profit and all integrity is lost.
From Bluenose's linked document
The group therefore agreed that the prime objective for a SAR helicopter was to reach a survivor or survivors within any part of the UKSRR as quickly and safely as possible.
This is where I strongly disagree with the group
The group decided that the variations in equipment and clothing of potential SAR survivors and the variations in temperature and conditions in and near the UK throughout the year was so great that average survival times for land and for the sea had little or no meaning. Furthermore, any injury sustained could significantly reduce a survivor’s survival time. The group agreed that the most practical and meaningful method of determining helicopter coverage and helicopter basing was to consider the time taken from take off to reaching the survivor, assuming that the survivor can be found immediately without the need for search. The group decided that the time taken to reach a survivor from take off should be 1 hour.
The first compromise between rescuing the casualty as quickly as possible and creating a management tool to determine basing - always an easy compromise to reach when you are warm, dry and uninjured in your committee room.
I know we can't have more SAR bases but having fewer (at night) is not providing the same level of cover and service.
Last paragraph in the document
Therefore, there should be a SAR helicopter available ‘on-state’ at each SAR base for 98% of the base’s declared SAR operating time; usually 24 hours per day throughout the year. In addition, to cater for concurrent SAR tasks and to provide a surge capacity for large disasters, a second helicopter and crew should be available at certain military SAR bases.
So where is that in the SAR H blueprint???