You said it yourself: "every once in a while...". I wouldn't call that high risk. Do you really think aviation would be a mode of mass transit if it where "high risk"? I would consider high risk as flying over airspace with AAA and SAMs looking to shoot you down.

Let's not kid ourselves guys and try boosting our egos or impressing people with a distortion of the job.

I will say, however, that the job requires skill and experience to deal with said emergencies, and that is why the job deserves a good check.