Gun-shot wound in the heart

[Dr. Fierro]: A bullet wound to the heart would be a significant injury and depending on the size of the bullet and the extent of injury your survival time is going to vary. A very small bullet, a 22 caliper bullet, say, perforates the heart, left ventricle, say it is the pumping chamber, would allow survival for some minutes because it's a small hole to begin with and the blood leaks out slowly with each contraction and so it would take several minutes at least to develop tamponade or compression of the heart by the blood that's being squeezed out with each contraction.