Yep, it ain't easy being practical. In a crisis situation such as this scenario entails, you are faced with some tough decisions. First is the objective conclusion of whether the threat to the victim warrants the risk to yourself and others, then to have to choose between who to try and save based on the likelihood of success. It is easy to prejudice such decisions based on subjective criteria, such as relationships. Some sacrifices are never easy. Letting someone perish that you could save while attempting to save someone else who is beyond hope because for personal reasons will accomplish nothing. Facing the prospect of watching my loved ones perish is the basis of my worst nightmares, but if we are to be practical about our survival, then we must face the inevitability that there are limits to what we can do, and be willing to function within those limits to the maximum extent possible.

Just to clarify my position I will provide an example: Were I unfortunate to be caught in a flood situation such that I were in a secure location, yet my wife were being swept away in an overwhelming current while someone else were hanging on for dear life nearby, I would be compelled to attempt rescue of the other person while there's still the chance they can be saved, knowing that my wife goes to her doom. Much as I would prefer to attempt to jump in after the Mrs., I would be forced to concede that it is likely all I would accomplish in doing so would be three deaths instead of one. Hers, mine, and the person that I could otherwise have aided. By throwing in with the wife, I've sacrificed any chance I have of making a dfference for anyone else, including other loved ones.

Thems is just the cold, hard facts. Were the odds more even between the wife and someone less personally significant, then of course the wife gets the nod.