BOSTON -- A Dedham physician returned from a week in Haiti, calling it the worst conditions he's ever seen.

Dr. Dave David said saving hundreds of lives was frustrating because of the thousands more who did not survive.

David said the horror of treating patients in Sri Lanka after the tsunami five years ago doesn't compare to what he saw in Haiti last week.

"It was a 100 times worse. It makes Sri Lanka look like a resort," David said. "You just saw the worst of the worst. There was no way to control infections. I saw malaria, fevers of 107 degrees, real bad meningitis, and of course typhoid was starting to set in, injuries -- crushing injuries."

Sleeping in the open air next to a mass grave of 40,000 bodies, David said the stench was indescribable. They bought carpenter drills and hacksaws to amputate limbs and save lives.

"I delivered seven or eight babies there. Women were laboring in the mud. I delivered a woman with no legs -- a bilateral amputee, bones sticking out from her leg, delivering a baby," David said.

David said there were limited antibiotics, poor quality anesthesia and no communications beyond a few satellite phones.

"While there was hopelessness because it was overwhelming, and you know that not every patient could be taken care of, there were nice moments where you saved a life and you think, 'boy, I couldn't give them the great medical care they have here, but anything I could do for them is better than anything they have there,'" David said.