Keep two independent ledgers for a decay or decay chain. An alpha emission lowers the mass number by 4 and the proton number by 2; a beta− emission leaves the mass number unchanged and raises the proton number by 1 (a neutron turns into a proton).
Trigger: a decay described by counts of alpha and beta particles, or by a net change in mass number or proton number.
Instances:
(i) net proton change ΔZ=−2nα+nβ, net mass change ΔA=−4nα.
(ii) since only alpha changes the mass number, read nα=ΔA/4 straight off the mass drop, decoupled from the betas, then recover nβ from ΔZ.
(iii) with a single alpha in the chain, the mass number can only ever be the start value or that value minus 4, and beta steps only raise Z, so any nuclide off those two mass numbers (or below the starting Z while the mass is unchanged) is unreachable.