Why is it I feel ex-military would be much more competent?
The hospitals I've been around, I always ask where they get the pilots for their helicopters, since you can only sit by an ill relative so long without wanting to talk about something else.
The response: ALL have answered they will only even interview ex-Army Helo pilots, preferably medivac that have landed in the worse conditions possible for a helo.
In short, I agree. If everything was followed by the book, or close to the procedures, we'd have a lot fewer "accidents" with ships, aircraft, and anything responsible for hundreds of lives (or more).