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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- When a medical emergency occurs getting the help one needs in a timely fashion is important.

One area hospital has established a service pledge to stress their dedication to not only offer quality care but also to work diligently to provide that care as efficiently as possible.

At Northeast Regional Medical Center in Kirksville they have established a 30-minutes-or-less emergency room service pledge.

The hospital's pledge is that a physician will work hard to have patients initially seen within 30 minutes of their noted arrival.

As the pledge was being crafted, some staff questioned it but now has seen how well it has worked.

"We can get overwhelmed and can be difficult to meet that pledge, so they were a little bit skeptical at first," said NRMC CEO Eric Barber. "I mentioned the six months we kind of proved it to ourselves internally, and some of our bigger skeptics have been some of our bigger champions."

The hospital wants to note this isn't a guarantee, but they have a definite goal to see every patient within thirty minutes of their noted arrival as the most severe cases will always receive immediate attention.