Two Bronx EMS personnel will make a television debut this evening at 9 p.m. as part of a special project being done by MTV’s ‘True Life” series.
In “True Life: First Time First Responders,” 31-year-0ld trauma nurse “Nurse Barbie” Rhanell and FDNY EMS member, 33-year-old Alex “Ace” self-document their first hand trials of the COVID-19 pandemic on the front lines in the city.
The two have day shifts with the Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corp. (TNVAC) which is the Bronx’s only volunteer EMT squad. According to MTV, TNVAC has experienced a devastating shortage of volunteers during the pandemic.
Both Rhanell and Alex each have deeply layered reasons for risking their lives in order to save others and through first-hand accounts, the episode also shows their own personal crises at home and in the field during their unpredictable first shifts as volunteers.
By filming in only a self-shot style, “the duo are able to capture themselves in a way no other show has tried to do.”
That will be done in the way of intense ambulance runs, candid confessionals, and moments of levity at home and in the field as a raw, never-before-seen portrait of two Bronx heroes is painted in the midst of a pandemic reshaping the world like never before.
MTV also encourages those who wish to donate and help protect frontline health workers to visit Help.FirstRespondersFirst.co and join the conversation using #FirstRespondersFirst on social media.
All contributions will provide essential supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), child care, food and mental health support for frontline workers who are most in need.
This story first appeared on bxtimes.com.
