'It's Definitely Changed The World': Nurse Barbie On Battling COVID-19 & MTV's 'True Life Presents: First-Time First Responders'

(CBS Local)-- True Life has been an MTV institution since the late 1990s, but for the first time the network is presenting self-shot project that follows a team of volunteer millennial EMTs working in the epicenter of the COVID-19 global pandemic in New York.

"True Life Presents: First-Time First Responders" premieres Tuesday, June 9 at 9pm EST/PST on MTV and Nurse Barbie from New York's Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corp is one of the two medical professionals featured in the episode. The trauma nurse has seen a lot of crazy things in her career, but nothing compares to the last three months of her life on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.

"The last three months have been so hectic, yet so exciting," said Nurse Barbie in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "It's taught me a lot about my life as a person, colleague, nurse and daughter. COVID-19 is awakening a lot of things, a lot of fear in people and people are pushed to the limit."

Nurse Barbie and her colleagues in New York first realized COVID-19 was going to be around for a long time in early March. The spread of the virus hit the New York trauma nurse on a professional level and personal level when she found out her parents got the virus.

"It's definitely changed the world. Wearing masks is definitely something that's going to be sticking around for a long time," said Nurse Barbie. "They say public events won't happen until 2021. It affects all types of people, whether they have a medical history or not. We did not have enough personal protective equipment in the hospital system or volunteering with the EMS. It definitely hit home to me because my parents contracted the virus. I live for my family and my patients. I have a duty to protect and help them as well."

Nurse Barbie's parents have both recovered from coronavirus and are back at work. The New York trauma nurse hopes "True Life Presents: First-Time First Responders" shows people what life was like for first responders battling this pandemic all around the world.

"I want them to focus on how hard we worked to save each and every life with equipment and without equipment," said Nurse Barbie. "We made due with what we had. I want them to focus on how we felt and the energy we brought to each and every home volunteering. It will definitely show a glimpse of what EMS professionals do when they come into your home to save you."