High School Volunteers Join Local Emergency Squad

Kalida, OH · November 1, 2026

An illustration for this edition's lead story: High School Volunteers Join Local Emergency Squad

November arrives under gray skies today, though an unseasonably mild breeze makes an afternoon walk past the ballfields surprisingly comfortable. Grab your coffee and ease into Sunday before the week spins up.


The Lead

In an era when volunteer rescue squads across northwest Ohio grapple with recruiting younger personnel, the village is growing its own frontline help right down the hall. Through a partnership between Kalida High School and Kalida EMS, local juniors and seniors who have reached age sixteen are stepping onto emergency response trucks as trained ride-along volunteers.

Program instructors recently wrapped comprehensive training with this semester’s newest cohort of student recruits, drilling them on triage protocols, equipment prep, and scene safety. Rather than waiting until graduation, these teens gain immediate, supervised clinical exposure while providing an extra set of hands during local medical runs. The initiative not only strengthens crew staffing across busy shifts but also steers local graduates toward careers in healthcare and paramedicine. The new student volunteers begin shadowing duty crews on emergency calls starting this week.


Local Pulse

  • Crews Finalize Pavement Markings Along Route 224 Roads Motorists should expect brief daytime flagging delays between the village and Ottawa as crews install permanent road reflectors.

  • Village Council Convenes For First November Session City Hall Council members and public affairs trustees meet Monday evening at Town Hall to review municipal utility and infrastructure business.


Today's Outlook

  • High 69°F · Low 51°F — Overcast
    • A light jacket is plenty for outdoor chores under today’s mild, cloud-covered skies.

What's On Around Town

Today

  • ONU Band-O-Rama: America 250 Freed Center for the Performing Arts (500 W College Ave), Ada, 4:00–6:00 PM · $5–10 High-energy marching band halftime classics celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

  • Boys Junior High Basketball Open Gym Kalida High School (301 N 3rd St), 7:00–8:30 PM · Free Free evening court time for junior high players ahead of winter tryouts.

Tomorrow

  • The Book Woman’s Daughter Discussion Putnam County District Library (136 Putnam Pkwy), Ottawa, 5:30 PM · Free
  • Knit and Crochet Club Lima Public Library (650 W Market St), Lima, 6:00 PM · Free

Tuesday

  • Baby Storytime Brumback Library (215 W Main St), Van Wert, 10:30–11:30 AM · Free
  • Adult Book Discussion: Loyalty Pandora Branch Library, Pandora, 5:00 PM · Free

Spotlight & Story

  • The Putnam County Pioneer Association
    • When settlers gathered on September 6, 1873, to establish Ohio’s oldest continuous festival, membership cost just one dollar. First president Oliver Talburt strictly enforced the charter rule: only pioneers who had settled the county before 1840 were granted entry.

Kalida Daily Digest — compiled from local sources every morning. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

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