However, this is when Fist of Earth is getting used and the absolute best monks will use Fist of Earth to survive things in a pinch.

The other thing to note is that if your tank dies in anything outside of 8 man content it is because of a two things usually:
1) He pulled too much and the healer can't keep him alive (in which case you'll get clobbered within a couple of seconds anyways)
2) Healer went AFK (in which case, you will also die within a few seconds as well)