Does a stab to the heart immediatly kill you?

Answer 1

This depends on a few things. First what size the weapon is and second where in the heart it is plunged into. Generally any puncture of the right ventricle or major veins/artieries result in tamponade (the heart pericardium-sac fills with blood and stops the heart from expanding to fill itself) and a very quick death. If the weapon is left in, there are a few minutes of life possible. Now if the weapon punctures the left ventricle a person can live for a while longer because the wall of the left side is thicker and tends to seal itself after being stabbed. If the hole/puncture is big enough to compromise the pericardium and the heart then person usually bleeds out - to death - fast or slow depending on the size of the hole and if the weapon is left in or removed. If you are lucky enough to survive the first few seconds - DON'T REMOVE THE WEAPON - call 911, sit up right so you don't drown in your own blood and you might have a chance to make it to surgery to repair the heart and live. Pull the weapon out and death is almost always the outcome. Simple answer is yo have between a couple seconds to about a half hour after you are stabbed to live.