2006 led to repeated system crashes during August. As a result, dispatchers had to go back to old pen-and-paper methods. On 8 June 2011, the LAS attempted to implement a new CAD system, called CommandPoint, costing £18million, and built by Northrop Grumman, an American aerospace and defence technology company. During its implementation it developed technical problems and was replaced by a pen-and-paper method for several hours, until a decision was taken to revert to the previous system, CTAK, in the early hours of 9 June. It was later announced that a review of the difficulties experienced would be undertaken. A second attempt at implementing CommandPoint took place on 28 March 2012. The trust was considering terminating its contract with Northrop Grumman if the re-attempt to go live with the new system failed. Despite a drop in response times to "Category A" (life-threatening) emergency calls in the period immediately after implementation, which coincided with above average demand, the LAS stated that "The new system is now familiar to all control room staff and demand has returned to more or less predicted levels, with a corresponding increase in performance". On the morning of 1 January 2017, one of the busiest nights of the year due to new year celebrations, a system failure impacted the system for several hours. Between 00:30 and 05:15 control room staff had to fall back on pen and paper methods. Response times were further impacted by the concurrent failure of the web based tracking system and of automated satellite navigation systems for ambulance crews. This required location details to be passed by radio and then manually entered into satellite navigation systems in vehicles. The ambulance service stated that an investigation would be launched to establish the reasons for the system failure. In October 2019, the service adopted a platform called GoodSAM, which enables control room staff to connect to a callers' smartphone and assess seriously injured patients via a video link. They can locate a caller and check a patient's pulse from the scene. Using the service in the first month staff decided not to use an air ambulance in 38 of the 67 cases where it was used. It plans to expand the use of the technology across 999 and 111 calls. Finance In April 2015, the trust asked its commissioners for £27M extra funding to help it recruit more staff and buy new vehicles. Popular culture