Originally Posted by MOGC
Too many people are conditioned to "go call for help" instead of dealing with the immediate problem on their own. In the backcountry there is no immediate help. Help is many hours away. You are "help." The emergency in this case was immediate and needed to be dealt with inside of several seconds, not hours.

This. Going for help in this context was a cop out for losing nerve, i.e., going with the flight reflex at the sight of dread and imminent danger.