As the Swedish Armed Forces decided to close its helicopter activities in Stockholm and Gothenburg the need for a new civil SAR operator became evident. The search and rescue alert was threatened in the regions. The Swedish Maritime Administration decided to employ the company AB Norrlandsflyg for the task. The company had been the first with civil SAR in the country and currently held the bases in Sundsvall and Visby in addition to its two HEMS businesses in Gällivare and Gothenburg. The new contract granted the SAR activity in Stockholm and Gothenburg on a five years basis, with two additional years on option.

Two brand new Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopters were ordered from the Sikorsky factory. They were put together and modified for SAR alert in less than 6 months! The helicopters, SE-HEJ and –HOJ, went through the extensive all-weather-SAR modification process at Keystone Helicopters and were then air-freighted to Luxembourg during the spring of 2006. The machine destined for Gothenburg, SE-HEJ, was the first one to be delivered, and it was soon followed by SE-HOJ.
The helicopter, which was the very last C+ constructed by Sikorsky, rapidly entered service as Lifeguard 992 in Stockholm. It replaced the backup helicopter, SE-JUZ.

The aircraft was initially positioned at the temporary base at Arlanda Airport, but it was soon moved to Mellingeholm Airfield Norrtälje in order to get closer to the coast.

On 1 November 2011 the Swedish Maritime Administration acquired all the stocks in Norrlandsflyg's parent company Scandinavian Helicopter Invest (SHI). The new helicopter division was named SMA Helicopter Rescue, which became a
subsidiary to Sjöfartsverket Holding (administered by the Swedish Maritime Administration). All the SAR helicopters were included in the deal. The purchase also involved the EMS helicopters SE-JUC and SE-JEZ.

SMA Helicopter Rescue was formally incorporated in the Swedish Maritime Administration on 22 January 2014.

The fleet of S-76 helicopters was gradually replaced by brand new AgustaWestland AW139s, starting with the Umeå SAR station in April 2014 and the Ronneby station later the same year.

The SE-HOJ was offered for sale in mid-2014, with a total time of 2600 hours. It was returned to its leasing owner, Era Leasing LLC, in 2014. It was shipped from Sweden to the United States together with SE-HEJ in early October 2014. The two C+ helicopters were the first two to leave the Swedish Maritime Administration following the launch of the new AW139s.