A special grant is allowing officers with the Cocoa Police Department to help in medical emergencies — a life-saving tool that will now be on hand in their patrol cards.

The grant will allow police to save critical time in a crisis.

Twenty-two new Automated External Defibrillators — also known as AEDs — will be in the police cruisers. They will be ready for officers to use since they are often times the first to the scene of a call.

The Automated External Defibrillators are used if a citizen goes into cardiac arrest. The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation is responsible for the $19,000 grant to pay for the defibrillators.

Officers will be trained to use the new device by the end of the month.