A collapsible hydraulicaliy operated ambulance cot having a support frame, awheeled base, a support mechanism disposed therebetween, and a lift system forhydraulicaliy moving the upper frame relative to the lower frame is disclosed.The lift system permits a single attendant to raise the cot from a loweredposition to a raised position, and an infinite number of positionstherebetween, and to raise the wheeled base relative to the support frame tosituate the cot onto an elevated surface such as the transport deck of anambulance. A manual override is also provided to conserve battery power and asa back-up in no-power situations. It is to be appreciated that the abovedescribed manual override mode may be used when raising or lowering the cotwithout power assist, dropping the undercarriage when unloading from avehicle, and lifting the undercarriage when loading into a vehicle. A chargingsystem for recharging a battery of an electro-hydraulically powered liftambulance cot with an electrical system of an emergency vehicle is alsodisclosed.
