Cary EMS Chief Steve Cohen said the two groups have been talking for more than a year about the possibility.

Cohen could not give any definite timeline for the consolidation.

Apex EMS Chief Nicky Winstead said Monday via e-mail that the Apex EMS Board of Directors has not formally endorsed the concept yet, though they have met with Cary EMS officials at least once.

Cohen said the Cary EMS board of directors had passed a motion considering the concept of a consolidation. Cary is waiting for Apex EMS to do something similar, Cohen said.

Consolidation would be a great way to merge the budgets and equipment of the two agencies, making for a stronger service, Cohen said. Talk of consolidation was partly sparked by a countywide movement, he said.

“There is big talk through the whole county ... as to what departments could consolidate,” he said. Cohen noted that Eastern Wake EMS services was created in 2005 from a consolidation of the Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon EMS services.

Cary EMS is the bigger of the two organizations, but it and Apex EMS have similarities. Both have volunteer and paid personnel, and both started in the early 1970s, according to their Web sites.

Apex and Cary are among seven EMS agencies serving Wake County. All except for the Wake County EMS are contracted through the county and usually affiliated, though not governed, by a town, said Jeffrey Hammerstein, district chief with Wake County EMS.