Disclaimer: I'm asking this because I am curious. Not because I'm actually handling nitric acid.
In another answer I was reading, the poster mentioned that if you spill nitric acid, you shouldn't pour water on anything but a small spill, because it will generate heat (maybe enough to flash-boil the water?), but if you spill nitric acid on yourself, you should have an emergency shower ready.
Except, wouldn't the emergency shower be using water and cause the exact same problem? Is this just a case of deciding that possible burns from a hot liquid, while under a cold shower are much better than definite acid burns?