I don’t actually innately care about my own safety if I think I can help someone else.

It's important that I address this if nothing else. If you truly want to be a help for someone else, you need to value your safety. You need to care about yourself. If you get killed helping person A, then what about person B or C who comes afterwards and would've benefited exceptionally from your help? If you want to serve, you need to serve yourself too.