Hi Wallsend
Unfortunately, I have never flown the 902 but have always had a respect for it as a HEMS machine. That view has been supported by comments from pilots who have flown it and loved it (I've yet to meet one who has flown it and not loved it for the job).
However, going back to the red decision to go EC135, I banged the table to one of those senior redtop men that the 902 would be a far superior HEMS machine. What more could we ask than a great big boxy cabin and a tail rotor fan tucked away from danger? The response was that the MD people were very nice people to deal with (and this was in the very early days after MD got sold off) but that at that time the support that MD could offer was not what we would demand for our customers. Secondly, minor maintenance tasks like removing panels to change a generator were a nightmare compared to the 135. Exchange rates may have had an impact on the decision but the comments above appear to have been prophetic about the 902's problems to date.
I have never seen evidence of the maintenance problems on the 135 that you mention, generally the engineers love it.
Regards
TeeS