DR. WALLACE: I help people in distress, and I love my job very much. I am a 911 operator and would like to pass along some tips that will bring assistance as soon as physically possible. I would suggest that your readers clip these tips out of the newspaper and place them near the telephone! They might also carry a copy in their wallets or purses.

After dialing 911 and reaching an operator:

1. Stay calm: Speak slowly and clearly.

2. Be exact about your location: Give your name, phone number, address, apartment number, city or town and directions, including landmarks or cross streets.

3. Describe the type of help you need: Is it medical, police or fire assistance?

4. Give details about a victim's condition: Is a person bleeding severely? Choking? Unconscious?

5. Describe any first aid that's been given: Has the person received cardiopulmonary resuscitation or other emergency care?

6. Describe a victim's location: Is he or she in the upstairs bedroom? Downstairs on the bathroom floor?

7. Listen carefully, and then write down instructions. Ask the dispatcher to repeat information if necessary.

8. Don't hang up too soon; wait until the dispatcher tells you to.

9. Make sure your house number is clearly visible. If it's after dark, turn a light on outdoors to show your house number. —911 Operator, Wichita, Kan.

OPERATOR: Thanks for this important information. Dialing 911 has helped millions of people in harm's way and saved many lives. Words can't adequately describe your value to citizens.

TELEVISION VIEWING AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

TEENS: If you maintain high grades, you probably limit your time watching television. Research reaffirms TV's negative influence on the educational process. Indeed, three separate findings on this issue were published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

A study of 400 students in Northern California found that those with TVs in their bedroom scored eight points lower on math and language-arts tests than students without bedroom televisions. Another study of 1,000 adults in New Zealand found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched a lot of television when they were young. A third study of 1,800 U.S. children found that those who viewed at least three hours of television daily before age 3 scored slightly less on academic tests at age 6 than those who watched less television. The effect was modest but worrisome, according to researchers.

Data suggest that American children up to age 6 watch about an hour of television per day, while teens sit in front of the television an average of three hours daily. Not all television can be labeled as a waste of time. Many educational programs (History Channel, Public Broadcasting, and selected network programs, for example) can be beneficial to the overall learning process. It's the addictive quality of junk TV that regresses learning.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.