Stretcher with castor wheels

A stretcher comprising:

• an elongate frame for supporting a patient, the frame having a front end, a rear end opposite the front end and opposed sides;
• first and second front legs attached to the frame adjacent the front end;
• a first front castor wheel attached to said first front leg and a second front castor wheel attached to said second front leg, said front castor wheels being attached to said front legs so that said front castor wheels are able to swivel relative to said front legs;
• a castor lock assembly, said castor lock assembly including:
• two locking members, each said locking member being moveably attached to a separate one of said front legs to move from a locked position wherein said locking member engages a portion of said castor wheel attached to said front leg to prevent swivel movement of said castor wheel and a release position wherein the locking member is spaced from the castor wheel so that the castor wheel is able to swivel;
• two cables, each said cable being located in a separate one of said front legs and attached to said locking member attached to said front leg for moving said locking member between the locked position and the release position;
• a rod rotatably mounted to said frame, wherein said cables are connected to said rod so as to be simultaneously actuated by the rotation of said rod;
• and
• at least one control member moveably connected to the frame and attached to said rod for manually rotating said rod;
• and
• first and second rear legs attached to the frame adjacent the rear end;
• and
• a first rear castor wheel attached to said first rear leg and a second rear castor wheel attached to said second rear leg.

A stretcher comprising:

• an elongate frame for supporting a patient, said frame having a front end and a rear end opposite the front end;
• first and second front legs attached to said frame adjacent the front end for holding the frame above ground level, wherein said front legs are moveably attached to the frame so that the height at which the front legs hold the frame above ground level can be selectively adjusted;
• a front leg control assembly attached to said frame for releasably holding said front legs in a fixed position, said front leg control assembly having a locked state in which said front leg control assembly holds said front legs in a fixed position or a release state in which said front leg control assembly allows said front legs to move;
• first and second rear legs attached to said frame adjacent the rear end for holding said frame above ground level, wherein said rear legs are moveably attached to said frame so that the height at which the rear legs hold the frame above ground level can be selectively adjusted;
• a rear leg control assembly attached to said frame for releasably holding said rear legs, said rear leg control assembly having a locked state in which the control assembly holds the rear legs in a fixed position and a release state in which the control assembly allows the rear legs to move;
• at least one handle pivotally mounted to one end of said frame so as to have an extended position wherein said handle extends away from the end of the frame to which the handle is mounted and a retracted position wherein the handle does not extend away from the frame;
• a release mechanism attached to said frame for selectively displacing at least one of the front leg control assembly or the rear leg control assembly from the locked state to the release state, said release mechanism including:
• a release lever connected to said handle to move between the extended and retracted positions with the handle and that is attached to the handle to move relative to the handle;
• and
• a linkage member that extends between said release lever and the leg control assembly with which said release mechanism is associated and that is connected to said release lever and the leg control assembly so that:
• when the handle and the release lever are in the extended position, actuation of said release lever results in displacement of said linkage member that moves the leg control assembly from the locked state to the release state;
• and, when the handle and the release lever are in the retracted position, actuation of said release lever does not result in displacement of said linkage member that moves the leg control assembly from the locked state.