How can someone possibly survive a stab or a bullet to the heart?

Question

I read somewhere that with quick treatment something like 90% of those treated will survive a cardiac stab wound. Is that true and if so how is it possible? I thought the heart was a much more ‘fragile’ thing.

In: 10

Answer 1

It’s going to keep beating, the trouble is blood loss into the chest cavity. If you beat that timer you can pump them full of extra blood to replace the losses and stitch the heart back up real quick so it stops squirting blood everywhere. The key here is “quick treatment”, because depending on how badly stabbed it is you could be losing more blood than you’re pumping.

ETA: This is also a simple puncture, if the inner walls are damaged this gets more complicated. Especially if a valve is damaged.