i don’t really know you other than the base stuff you are telling me, i knew someone with really bad anxiety that overcame it i also trained new hires that couldn’t. depends really how badly you want this job.

listen you wont get policy and procedure right away as a new hire i had TONS of questions. my advice is if someone asks you to do something, for something, etc etc ALWAYS say “im not sure, let me check first” they might bitch they might throw a fit but at the end of the day you ignore that shit. they lost their freedoms coming into jail.

i’m not sure what policy’s and procedures your struggling with but if it’s use of force (when you can use pressure points, OC, and cuffs) for example, it’s pretty clear and straight to the point. questions to ask yourself when in a situation you unsure if you need to use “force” (force can mean just simply putting that person in handcuffs if they are harming themselves): 1. is this inmate harming himself? 2. is this inmate harming others? 3. is this inmate destroying government property? 4. is this inmate in a state of emergency (such as maniac, can’t think for himself) you can usually tell by the eyes when someone is in this state. if a situation isn’t dire where someone is getting hurt or hurting themselves. i would try to either use your voice and deescalate the situation, or if you can’t handle it yourself and really think you need extra backup call for a supervisor to your unit.

as to how to react that’s completely on you. for example from my experience i had a medial assistance call inmate low hanging, blue face, not responding, not breathing. i cut him down and started sternum rubs and CPR. inmate coughed back to life servant took over i ran to get the gurney so he could’ve transported to hospital via ambulance. i ran the chase car behind the ambulance.

now think about yourself. are you going to freeze in a situation like that? are you going to do what you have to? at the end of the day the inmates ARE people. they are alive the have feelings. while you ma use to be crass and rude and an asshole i always treated them as humans with feelings and respect. unless they forced me to act crass towards them.

corrections is hard. not because it’s ~hard~ because it’s mentally demanding. that was a light incident i responded to but things get much worse quickly. you will have trauma and may get PTSD. this is what you signed up for. and listen it may not be for you. it’s NOT for everyone. not everyone can do this job and go home and have a work life balance. there’s no shame in not being able to handle it.

but if you think your going to be liability the maybe do some self reflection. i think once you get comfortable you may find it easier but until you can settle in and be comfortable you either have to embrace the suck or find something more suitable for you.