With respect the previous SAR service tried its hardest to rescue everyone but inevitably failed to reach the 100% mark. Maybe 100% is achievable if you doubled the number of units around our shores - but I doubt it. Some things are just not possible no matter what money is spent.
If you want a metric to go with I reckon that between 95 and 99% of missions achieved would be a fair return on investment.
Who'd be a man overboard/fast-jet ejectee/missing diver/fisherman washed off a pier/kid swept out to sea at sunset?
With my tongue slightly in cheek I could say the the man overboard should be better trained/equipped or shouldn't have been fooling around on deck after a skinful of booze. The ejectee should be well enough equipped/trained to survive until a pickup is possible after all the Air Force don't confine their activities to the waters covered by any/our SAR service. The missing sports diver should consider the risks of a dangerous pastime and a professional diver will have proper support anyway. The fishermen are involved in what is acknowledged to be a very dangerous occupation and I know from personal experience that they are champions at pushing the envelope when they feel the need to fish and they are not the best at maintaining their boats. Any fisherman on a pier in bad weather deserves what he gets - he should know the risks. As for the kid swept out to sea at sunset - what the hell were his parents doing. Stupid is as stupid does, our world is full of consequences and we cannot possibly cover off all of them.
As I said before we can do the best we can with what we have got. When we had a lot of winch wire 'bird-caging' we couldn't train for weeks. **** happens.
G.