For some people in this hectic society of ours, no matter how you schedule the CERT class, it does not work in their schedule.  There is still hope in helping these people get trained.  You can also take CERT on-line, for free at U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Management Institute http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/  Look for the course IS-317:  Introduction to Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). 

If you take the interactive on-line version, you might have technical problems on FEMA’s servers.  A better way to take the course is to download the material, take the course, and submit the exam on-line, while retaining hard copy of your answers. 

Even though Dr. Cheng took the CERT live twice in two different cities, he also took the on-line course as a review since the live class did not have any tests. 

Please note if you want to join a CERT team, the FEMA course may not be recognized by your local CERT group.  Some CERT groups do use the on-line course as part of their training, San Diego for example has people take the on-line class and then come in person to take hands-on training.  Other groups will put you into some of their live classes and then let you become a member.