The Decision

OK, for whatever it may be worth, I have given much thought to my dilemma posed in this post and those prior to it. I have arrived at an action plan, as the corporate speak would prefer I say. I'd like to thank those that either posted opinions or support as comments or sent private emails with advice. These actually helped me firm up what was the right thing to do.
 First, let me briefly recap my thinking, which may or may not be correct, but is the basis for my decision, which also may or may not be correct.
 First, the COHCOHN is a clinical ass. Although she carries years of experience in areas I do not, she has no EMS training, experience, or knowledge whatsoever. She is totally correct in stating that The Company has the right to determine what level of care they will provide and support. This is where her factual information ends. I actually contacted the Assistant Director [AD] at our State DOH, who this Nurse had talked to regarding the laws in our State. (You see I know this person professionally and have a good relationship with her and her office.) The AD tells me that the Nurse never asked any specific questions about the level of care I (as an EMT-B) was permitted to provide. The AD had suggested that any specific questions we had could be sent in writing and they would be happy to provide written rulings based on the law, but the Nurse only wanted very general stuff and never talked about specifics. This tells me the Nurse didn't want to whole truth of what I could and could not do under the law. In doing so, she became persona non grata in my consideration. She is irrelevant because she did an incomplete job. (I'll ask HM to put a Letter in the File for her.)
 The EHSM lacks the spine to come out and support me, or rather our workforce because she is too lazy to do the homework and fight for what is right. She could have made all this happen the way we wanted years ago, but she took the easy way out and assigned it all to the EHSW. Now she has no idea where any of it stands and why it is all screwed up. She is too lazy still to play catch up and straighten it all out. She will most likely not back me up when I do what is needed for a patient because it is the right thing to do. She MIGHT fill out the incident paperwork in such a way that the issue of my actions are never mentioned, but that would be as far as she would go. (She IS under some pressure to keep me in the building because of my professional contributions and the company's inability to find another person with my skills. The search has been underway for a long time, we are 2 people short in my group.) Still, I can't turn my back to her for fear of what she might stick in it.
 The EHSW is simply a waste of a paycheck. She is completely irrelevant.

So, tomorrow I will return to work and suck it up. I will verbally make it clear that they are putting me in an awkward situation in the event that we have a serious patient. I will request that they document these new rules they have fabricated so that I can see where the lines are. In my mind I know that the statistics are in my favor to not have another serious case for a long time. We've had 3 in the last 8 months with none in the prior 5 years. However, should somebody have a serious issue, I will do what I have to do. I will not keep any special tools or equipment IN the building, knowing that they are always out in my truck in the parking lot. If I really need them, I WILL send somebody out for them. If they fire me for treating a patient who needs care within my scope of practice, I am OK with that and will get a lawyer if I feel like it. Actually, a paralegal should be able to win that case.
 In short I will toe the line. I will not like it. I plan to let my boss, who is away on 3 weeks travel, know clearly that this has put a severe crimp in my relationship with the company and let it go at that.
 As for making my point: I will be writing a new article for one of the occupational safety magazines bringing this point to light. My company does not allow people who do this sort of writing to use the company name. So I clearly have no association with the company in this endeavor. Ironically, I have an article pending publication in the September issue of one of these magazines that touches ever so slightly on this subject, my next article would be a natural followup. As for the COHCOHN, I will break even with her also. She travels in much higher circles than I and this will take some patience. I have been known to wait up to 10 years to fire my singular shot, but fire I will, and I will make things right with her, and on her political level. She will know where the return fire came from and she will protest to no avail.

 So there you have it. I caved in to the establishment because my family needs to eat. They win, and everybody in the plant stands to lose. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not. Sometimes you have to compromise with assholes when they happen to be in power.
UU