Now

DO NOT stand back and wait idly by for someone else to do the right thing.  YOU should step forward immediately and do the right thing irrespective of others’ inaction.  There is no other honorable course of action.  Time does not wait for anybody or any thing, nor does a moment to be of service to someone badly in need.  If you do not instantly recognize a dire situation intertwined with the travails of someone desperately requiring assistance, the moment will swiftly pass, the dynamics of the situation WILL change—however slightly—and the next second may not present the same relative safety for that individual facing duress.  Timidity does not buy additional time; it merely escalates the potential risk for someone whose life may be in danger.  Use your built-in conscience as your true-north guide, not the consciences of others.  You have no idea whether their consciences are as evolved or finely tuned as yours, consequently they are not reliable and shouldn’t be trusted.  Move quickly whenever you see another person’s life or good health in peril.  To do otherwise—to hesitate or to hope that someone else will respond to the predicament first—is not acceptable behavior for an ethical human being; it far better equates with cowardice.