A scene from Baywatch I saw when I was 12 or 13 stayed with me forever. In the scene, a rescue goes bad. Swimmer is unresponsive in the water next to a peer, wa

A scene from Baywatch I saw when I was 12 or 13 stayed with me forever. In the scene, a rescue goes bad. Swimmer is unresponsive in the water next to a peer, waves are sloshing, and the swimmer is about to get smashed to bits on the peers. Rescuer jumps in and tries to save the stranded swimmer. All goes well until the rescuer gets smashed into the peer and injures his back. More rescuers jump in and save the lives of both the swimmer and rescuer. Then a stark lesson is delivered to the novice lifeguard who got hurt: This is why we train you to use the victim as a cushion agains the peer. They're already hurt and we don't need another victim. That stuck with me. Rescue yourself first, then help others. Otherwise we just end up with 2 people to rescue.