Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace with a cellphone displaying the recently launched Smart911 cellphone app. Submitted photo

MAYVILLE — Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace announced Wednesday that Smart911 is now available through a new cellphone app.

The new Smart911 app — available for most cellphones — allows residents to create a free Safety Profile for their household that includes any information they want 911 and first responders to have in the event of an emergency.

According to Gerace, when anyone in that household dials 911 from a phone associated with their Safety Profile, their profile is immediately displayed to the 911 call taker. This provides dispatchers additional information that can be used to “facilitate the proper response to the proper location.

“At a time when seconds count, Smart911 provides details that could impact response the second an emergency call is placed, which could be the difference between life and death,” Gerace said in a press release announcing the launch of the app.

People can create new Smart911 Safety Profiles right through the app. Participants can verify phones, add relevant information for dispatchers, and upload photos without needing to remember the website or wait until they’re at a computer.

When an app user calls 911 from their phone, dispatchers will see their profile in the Safety Profile just like a profile made on the website.

Participants can sign up for Smart911 on the new phone app or at smart911.com and create a Safety Profile. The sheriff said the information provided to the app is private and secure, and users can control what information is in the profile.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office was the first Smart911 center in the State of New York.

“I strongly encourage residents to create a Smart911 safety profile,” Gerace said. “This unique system helps us help you during the time of an emergency. The new app will make it much easier for people to create and manage their profile.”

More information can be found at Smart911.com.