The episode also drew articles and social media posts and comments from politicians critical of its handling, which affected Reform Party MP and Secretary General Kristo Enn Vaga.

Liisu Lass, presenter of "Esimene stuudio," said the entire team should rethink its approach to live broadcasts and that mistakes were made in handling the health scare which Vaga experienced.

"Yes, our entire team made a mistake, and I am deeply sorry about it," Lass wrote on social media.

Vaga appeared unwell around 10 minutes into the show, which featured the leaders of all four opposition parties along with Vaga and Eesti 200 MP Peeter Tali for the coalition side.

Lass recalled that the first 10 minutes of the show had gone ahead in the normal way before she noticed Vaga, taking part in his first major "Esimene stuudio" TV debate, suddenly fall, off camera.

Vaga quickly stood up and returned to his lectern, she added. He briefly appeared to be unsteady on his feet, but gave Lass a thumbs-up when she gestured to ask whether he was all right. Meanwhile co-host Andres Kuusk brought him a chair and also checked on him, but Vaga, 29, indicated that he wanted to continue.

"I was still wondering what it could have been, nerves or something else, as with someone so young, I must admit, the worst alarm bells do not immediately start ringing in your head," Lass noted in her post.

The episode continued while Lass tried to determine whether Vaga's condition was improving. With hindsight, Las said she now wishes she as presenter had halted the broadcast at least temporarily.

Vaga's condition subsequently became more visibly serious to television viewers; he remained seated and became slower and less clear in speech when contributing to the debate, on a recent defense procurement scandal.

Lass and Kuusk were positioned such that they could not see Vaga's face clearly, and it was ultimately Vaga struggling to answer a question that made the seriousness of the situation apparent, Lass said.

"That question, let alone the answer, should never have made it on air," she added.

Kuusk then went to help Vaga off air, while Lass continued with the show with the other participants, so as to avoid on-air dead time. Vaga was assisted off camera and an ambulance crew was called to attend to him.

Lass said the team must now establish clearer procedures for when the control room should halt a live broadcast and how presenters should respond if a similar situation to Wednesday's occurs.

"I am sincerely glad that Kristo is feeling better," Lass added.

ETV current affairs chief: Internal guidelines to be drawn up

ETV current affairs editor‑in‑chief Peep Kala said no one initially understood what had happened, hence the hosts focusing on continuing the program. He noted Tali had also aided Vaga back t his feet initially. "Kristo had his finger raised because he wanted to speak right away, and everything seemed to have been resolved," Kala said. Then watching from the control room, Kala grasped something was wrong: "His speech was beginning to trail off. I asked the hosts to continue in the studio, ran downstairs myself and decided that the most important thing now was to see how Kristo Enn Vaga was doing." He then guided Vaga out, of the studio checked his vital signs, and called an ambulance.

Center Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart, also taking part in the debate, had assisted Vaga too.

Vaga, a keen cyclist, was discharged from hospital overnight Wednesday to Thursday, and later revealed he had been diagnosed with a heart rhythm disorder last spring.

Cardiologist Margus Viigimaa noted around 30,000 people in Estonia have such disorders and that they are generally not life‑threatening, though added "when it occurs, the initial moment can be very frightening," Viigimaa said.

Kala also issued an apology to Vaga's family, who had been watching the situation unfold live. He said ERR has thoroughly analyzed the incident and will develop internal guidelines for live broadcasts if a guest or host becomes unwell.

An opinion piece published by Delfi noted a lack of empathy in Estonia's entertainment media, the opportunism of politicians, and the unprofessionalism of some social media "influencers" and self-styled investigative journalists.

Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) on Thursday hit out at trolls who had attacked Vaga online after the incident.

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