SARbloke .........."I've been to plenty of RTCs" . Well I've never been to any overwater jobs, nor night jobs and never been called into the mountains to rescue a climber dangling off a cliff. So maybe - just maybe - it is me who is being hard done by here, not you!
Seriously though (and as the ECMO comment just reinforces) it is surely horses for course re assets? The Ambulance Service are obviously going to use their own expensive and highly trained "front line" resources first when appropriate. In the sea/mountain/night/ECMO scenarios AAs would not be the first choice - (with the growing exception of night as this is slowly being adopted around the UK) so outside agencies like yourself would be requested.
And simple chain of command. Get a resource (first responder, DMA whatever) on scene and elevate your response (if required) once you know the situation. ( Learnt that through hard experience - I can't tell you how many times we used to get despatched to "persons trapped" to arrive and find the car door was stuck...)
Our despatchers regularly use SAR assets - when appropriate. SK was definitely not an appropriate asset on the M62 job. But rest assured, next time a minibus full of ECMO patients veers off a mountain road at night and crashes into the sea - I'll be sure to pass your number on!
