Préparons le défibrillateur, d’autant plus que l’arrêt cardiaque est grave.

Préparons is the nous imperative form of préparer.

In French, the imperative is used for commands and suggestions. With nous, it often means let’s ... in English:

• Préparons = Let’s prepare
• Allons-y = Let’s go
• Regardons = Let’s look

So Préparons le défibrillateur means Let’s prepare the defibrillator.

In the imperative, French normally does not use the subject pronoun.

So instead of saying:

• Nous préparons le défibrillateur = We are preparing the defibrillator

you get:

• Préparons le défibrillateur = Let’s prepare the defibrillator

That is completely normal for commands and exhortations.

French often uses the definite article where English might sometimes use a/an or no article at all, especially when the thing is specific in the situation.

Here, le défibrillateur suggests the defibrillator relevant to the emergency context, not just any defibrillator in general.

So:

• le défibrillateur = the defibrillator

In a real medical setting, this sounds natural because everyone knows which device is being referred to.

D’autant plus que is a set expression meaning something like:

• all the more because
• especially since
• particularly because

It strengthens the reason that follows.

So:

• Préparons le défibrillateur, d’autant plus que l’arrêt cardiaque est grave.

means something like:

• Let’s prepare the defibrillator, especially since cardiac arrest is serious.

It adds emphasis: the second clause makes the first statement even more justified.

Yes, it is fairly common, especially in written or careful spoken French. It is not extremely formal, but it is a bit more structured and polished than a very casual phrasing.

You may also see related expressions such as:

• d’autant plus ... que = all the more ... because
• d’autant moins ... que = all the less ... because

A learner should recognize it as a useful connector for giving an emphasized reason.

L’arrêt cardiaque literally means the cardiac arrest.

Breakdown:

• arrêt = stop, stoppage, arrest
• cardiaque = cardiac, relating to the heart

Because arrêt begins with a vowel sound, le becomes l’:

• le arrêt → impossible
• l’arrêt = correct

So l’arrêt cardiaque is the normal French term for cardiac arrest.

In medical French, grave is very common for serious, severe, or critical.

So:

• C’est grave = It’s serious
• Une blessure grave = a serious injury
• Un état grave = a critical condition

Sérieux can sometimes translate serious, but grave is often more natural when talking about illness, injury, danger, or emergencies.

In French, after être, an adjective comes directly after the verb:

• est grave = is serious

You do not add an article before the adjective.

So:

• L’arrêt cardiaque est grave = Cardiac arrest is serious

Compare:

• Il est fatigué = He is tired
• La situation est urgente = The situation is urgent

Not in this sentence.

French préparons can look identical in two different forms:

• nous préparons = we prepare / we are preparing
• préparons ! = let’s prepare!

The difference is the presence or absence of the subject pronoun and the sentence context.

Here, because there is no nous and the sentence is giving a prompt or instruction, it is clearly the imperative: let’s prepare.

The comma separates the main statement from the added explanation.

Main clause:

• Préparons le défibrillateur

Reason/explanatory clause:

• d’autant plus que l’arrêt cardiaque est grave

This punctuation helps the sentence read clearly and reflects the pause you would naturally hear in speech.

It is grammatically correct, but depending on context, it may sound a little unusual because cardiac arrest is serious is already obvious.

So structurally the sentence is fine, but in real-life medical French, people might choose a more direct or context-specific reason.

For example, emergency speech is often shorter and more urgent. Still, as a learning sentence, it is useful because it shows:

• the nous imperative
• the expression d’autant plus que
• medical vocabulary like défibrillateur and arrêt cardiaque

The difference is mainly specificity:

• Préparons le défibrillateur = Let’s prepare the defibrillator
  This suggests a specific, known device.

• Préparons un défibrillateur = Let’s prepare a defibrillator
  This sounds less specific, as if any one of several defibrillators would do.

In many real situations, le défibrillateur is more natural because the equipment is known and identifiable.

Usually it introduces the reason clause after the main idea, as it does here:

• Préparons le défibrillateur, d’autant plus que l’arrêt cardiaque est grave.

That is the most natural placement.

You generally would not move it around freely the way you might with some adverbs. It works best as a connector leading into the explanation.

Défibrillateur is a cognate of defibrillator, so English speakers can recognize it easily.

Approximate pronunciation:

• day-fee-bree-la-tur

A more careful French approximation would be:

• dé-fi-bri-la-teur

A few notes:

• dé- has an accented é, pronounced like ay
• the French r is different from English
• the ending -teur is a common French noun ending, often corresponding to English -tor or -ter

So the word is familiar in meaning, but pronounced in a French way.