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Suffolk Fire and Rescue has partnered with the PulsePoint app to help alert CPR-certified residents when someone in a nearby public place is suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest.

Public safety communications centers send alerts through the app at the same time they dispatch first responders to the scene. The app is not activated for residential addresses.

The app also lets users know where the closest AED and provides a real-time feed of fire and EMS calls.

“Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, affecting more than 350,000 people each year,” Fire Chief Mike Barakey stated in a news release. “This cutting-edge technology can save lives by alerting people who can start CPR before an ambulance arrives.”

Anyone with a smartphone can download the PulsePoint app for free through the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Once installed, users can select the agency serving the area in which they live or work to receive alerts, and users may follow more than one agency.

“By directly alerting CPR-trained citizens nearby, maybe in the business next door or on the floor above, PulsePoint’s aim is to put the right people in the right place at the right time,” PulsePoint Foundation President Richard Price said in the news release.

More than 3,300 cities are now connected to PulsePoint, and the app has more than 1.4 million subscribers.