Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol. 18, No. 5, October 2005, pp. 477–483 ( C  2005) Psychological Consequences of the Bam Earthquake on Professional and Nonprofessional Helpers Hassan Hagh-Shenas, 1,4 Mohammad Ali Goodarzi, 2 Gholamreza Dehbozorgi, 3 and Hassan Farashbandi 3 This study compared the psychological status of rescue personnel who had formal training (Red Crescent workers, i.e., Red Cross workers, and firefighters) with university student volunteers who had no formal training in handling traumatic situations in the Bam earthquake. One hundred student volunteers, 18 Red Crescent workers, and 36 firefighters participated in this study. Participants completed the Civilian Mississippi Scale, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index. Helpers without formal training showed higher scores on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and GHQ subscales compared to trained rescue personnel. In addition, a significant number of volunteers without formal training met criteria for a possible PTSD diagnosis by scoring above the cut-off point for the Mississippi scale. Those who had higher scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index showed greater adverse psychological effects. Catastrophic earthquakes have long-term psycho- logical consequences, particularly for survivors with high levels of trauma exposure. The 2004 Bam earthquake disaster in the Kerman province of Iran was totally un- expected and resulted in mass confusion and terror. Ef- fective communication and transportation modalities fell apart immediately. The arrival of experienced rescue per- sonnel to the site took a substantial period of time, and many victims died before they reached a hospitals. Many young student vulunteers from nearby cities without any training in rescue services arrived early at Bam to rescue those buried under the ruins. Trauma refers to extreme or severe events that are so powerful, harmful, and threatening that they demand ex- 1 Psychiatry Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. 2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. 3 Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. 4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychi- atry, Hafez Hospital, Abiverdi Boulevard, Shiraz 71935, Iran; e-mail: haghsheh@sums.ac.ir. traordinary coping efforts. While the figures vary across situations and across types of traumas, only a substan- tial minority of trauma victims develop serious associated difficulties or are diagnosed with psychiatric disorders (Davidson & Baum, 1994). In an early report, Durham, McCammon, and Allison (1985) examined 79 rescue, fire, and medical personnel and police officers who treated victims of an apartment building explosion. Eighty percent (80%) of the subjects had at least one symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eight of 21 PTSD symptoms were present in at least 10% of respondents. The most frequently reported symptom, intrusive thoughts about the disaster, occurred in 74% of those working with or searching for alive or dead victims at the disaster site. Hodgkinson and Shepherd (1994) examined the im- pact of disaster-related stress on disasyer support per- sonnel offering psychological support to victims of two major disasters. Results showed that rescue workers ex- perienced two major sources of disaster-related stressors: role-related difficulties and contact with clients’ distress. Coping style, prior life events, and the aforementioned 477 C  2005 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies • Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jts.20055