| Summary: | 碩士 === 高雄醫學大學 === 護理學系碩士班 === 104 === This study aims to understand the recovery experiences and interpretation of the victims of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Gas Explosion on August 1, 2014 through a phenomenological approach and under the cultural context of Taiwan. The study conducted in-depth interviews with six victims and analyzed their life patterns, experiences, and perceptions from a qualitative standpoint. The results show that the occurrence and impact of the disaster exhibit a timeline containing four main themes: “chaos”, “change to life”, “disaster reorientation”, and “adaptive recovery”.
This study found that the disaster, caused by misunderstanding of gas leakage, improper handling, and abnormal transportation by practitioners of the chemical industry, led to “chaos” of the victims. They escaped from the devastation and rushed to search for their missing beloved ones, dead or alive. They then experienced “change to life”, such as traffic inconvenience, a sudden change of lifestyle, damages to houses and properties, and huge business losses. The original commercial atmosphere of the streets could not be restored. Invisible psychological trauma after the gas explosion haunted the victims, who became restless and found it difficult to fall asleep. They were unwilling to accept the care offered by others and could not let go of their beloved ones, as they were tormented with great negative emotions. After going through “chaos”, “change to life”, and meaningful meditation, the survivors tended to use religious or cultural terms, such as “life is impermanent”, in order to bestow significance to the disaster and positioned “chaos” and “change to life” in “disaster reorientation”. After they were able to position the disaster or had a certain interpretation of the disaster, they gradually underwent “adaptive recovery”.
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