Mighty Gem; thank you. I thought you were going for 2003?
Roofus; I agree that the 117/EC145 is the best general purpose airframe for the emergency services market but it's just that but too far beyond the budget of an average provincial force like ours; undeniably it would be my choice for a well funded combined Police/HEMS operation [ no offence to the 3 UK units that are already doing a good job of this].
Let's set aside two points as they're for us to decide alone:- 1] that the economies of scale of existing maintenance provision will play a part in influencing type and 2] you pays your extra couple of hundred thousand for the 902 and you gets your extra payload.
Some examples of operational questions are:- Is the ride in the back of the 135 really that rough? Are the 902 pedal movements in a turbulent hover really that great? Has anyone got valid experience of both IFR avionic systems? What do you really think of the left seat in the 902 having the collective there? etc etc etc, I could go on for ages. hmm...