In 1904 Andrew Carnegie organized and endowed the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (http://www.carnegiehero.org/I to make awards for civilian heroism in the United States and Canada. Viewed in retrospect, the criteria that have evolved are finely tuned to reward purely altruistic behavior. The criteria generally exclude those who have some moral or professional duty to rescue.
A civilian who voluntarily risks his or her own life, knowingly, to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person is eligible for recognition by the Carnegie Hero Fund.
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The act of rescue must be one in which no full measure of responsibility exists between the rescuer and the rescued. Persons not eligible for awards are: Those whose duties in following their regular vocations require them to perform such acts, unless the rescues are clearly beyond the line of duty, and members of the immediate family, except in cases of outstanding heroism where the rescuer loses his or her life or is severely injured. Members of the armed services and children considered by the Commission to be too young to comprehend the risks involved are also ineligible for consideration.
In addition, there is a requirement that the rescuer “leave a place of safety” to make the rescue. If the rescuer himself is in the same peril as the rescued, there is no award. (Think of a passenger on a runaway train bravely hanging overboard to reattach a brake line.) Likewise, there is no award if the rescuer created the peril. In that case, the rescue would be discharging a moral obligation.
Despite these criteria, we have made over 9,000 awards. In most cases the rescued and the rescuer were strangers. About 20% of the awardees died in the rescue attempt.
We do not inquire into motives, but in almost every case the awardees profess to find their behavior unremarkable. “How could I not help?” is the most common reaction. In fact, most seem to have acted with little reflection.
